


Altruancy

by SomewhereFlying



Category: Persona 5
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Metaverse, Alternate Universe - Urban Fantasy, Fluff, M/M, Pining, Secret Identity
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-11
Updated: 2018-04-20
Packaged: 2019-02-13 07:31:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 60,224
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12979137
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SomewhereFlying/pseuds/SomewhereFlying
Summary: All Goro Akechi wanted was to be a well-respected detective. If that meant enduring a slew of meaningless fluff cases assigned by the higher-ups, so be it. If it meant spending his free time chasing after baseless rumors about a high school gang of self-described "social reformers", fine.Except the rumors aren't so baseless after all, and as he attempts to catch these 'Phantom Thieves' in an actual, documented act of wrongdoing, he finds himself becoming entangled with the gang more deeply than he ever intended - all thanks to their leader, who decided to take a special interest in him. An obnoxiously flirtatious interest.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> While there are no direct game spoilers in this story, it expects you to be familiar with all the late-game revelations about Akechi, so if you haven't completed the game through the 6th dungeon, be warned.

* * *

 

Goro Akechi was not accustomed to receiving gifts.

Oh, certainly he had received a great deal of _things_ in his life, some of which he even quite appreciated, but he was hesitant to call them proper gifts. He was under the impression that a gift was something given without expecting anything in return – not even the receiver’s gratitude, if it came to it – and for every item he had ever received, he had felt attached to it the weight of expectation.

Certainly he had never received a gift from the low-life that was technically his father.

Wryly, Goro thought that Shido might disagree with him about that. He might say that he had given Goro the gift of a home, instead of tossing him to the foster system without a second glance, as he so easily could have. After all, he hadn’t been married to Goro’s mother.

Goro knew better, though. He hadn’t known it at the time, of course, given that he had been five years old, but he knew now – he had read the police report on the whole affair. Back then, Shido’s position as a prosecutor with Tokyo’s Special Investigations Department had been particularly precarious – there had been talk of layoffs going around the office, and Shido wasn’t exactly a senior employee…

So when Goro’s mother had stolen Shido’s gun – a rare commodity he had only just been granted – and used it to end her own life, it put Shido in a tough position. He didn’t have much choice but to obey the court order to return his gun and take legal custody of the son his lover had left behind.

There was nothing _willing_ about it, and that was another thing Goro thought about gifts: they could only be given willingly. Otherwise it was nothing more than very clever stealing.

One of the first times Shido had actually given Goro something was on his 15th birthday – perhaps the most reasonable day of the year to expect a gift, if there was such a thing. Goro had woken up to an empty house and a slew of job advertisements sitting in a neat pile on the kitchen table. There was no name tag, no note of any kind, but nonetheless, attached was the silent understanding that Shido would not support him any longer than he had to.

Without bothering to read any of the adverts Shido had supplied him, Goro applied for a clerical job at the public prosecutor’s office. It was exactly the kind of rebellious move that Goro thought he would _never_ make… by that time, Shido had become the director of the SID, which would ultimately make him Goro’s boss. Not exactly an ideal work environment, but Goro felt drawn to detective work more than he felt repulsed by his father.

He got the job the same day he applied.

A year later, on his 16th birthday, Shido instead directly presented him with a dozen apartment rental listings and the implicit command to get out of his sight. Goro was not surprised – if anything, he was astounded it had taken this long. His quick ascent up the ranks, from a glorified receptionist to a genuine detective, had brought him into contact with Shido more often than either of them would have liked.

Goro moved out two weeks later. His apartment was claustrophobic and cheap, but quiet, and while it didn’t feel like home, it was better than living with Shido.

But, we were talking about gifts.

Fans of his – and it was strange for him to think that he had _fans_ , of all things – fans of his would occasionally give him gifts, sometimes in person and sometimes delivered anonymously to the prosecutor’s office. It had started ever since Goro’s superior approached him one day, calling him young and handsome, a good face for TV (Goro hadn’t known exactly how to respond to that), and nominated him to be part of a small bit on a local news channel.

Surprisingly, he was good at it – at being on television, that is, and at being interviewed. He must have been, or he wouldn’t have complete strangers approaching him on the street, asking for a piece of his time and his name scribbled on a sheet of paper. He wouldn’t have complete strangers giving him… things.

Sae-san would tell him “it’s the thought that counts,” but Goro thought the gifts overwhelmingly to be generic, empty trifles; after all, all his fans knew of him was his television persona, and so any token of appreciation would inevitably be tailored to what _that person_ would seem to want.

Unfortunately for his fans, he and Goro had very little in common.

Still, he had learned to play the part, and graciously accept any gifts that came him way, only to discard them privately in his apartment later on. It was disgustingly wasteful, and he often thought he would have preferred to receive nothing at all.

All of that is to say that one day, a pleasantly temperate June afternoon, when Goro found a small white box sitting on his desk, he wasn’t especially surprised, but he also wasn’t expecting much. He very nearly tossed it away without ever opening it, but that seemed unnecessarily cruel – someone had put thought into this, even if it was probably something of no value to Goro personally.

So he thought he would respect their effort and open up the little box to see what it held.

He wasn’t able to open the box until later that evening. He had taken it home with him, because he had long since learned the value of opening these gifts in private. (He remembered the last time: a card, an innocuous looking thing, that when he opened it began blaring pop music, and god, the _glitter_ … his coworkers still wouldn’t let him live that down.)

Goro sat down on his couch and stared at the box in his hands. It was completely unadorned, fairly lightweight, and sealed up with a single piece of tape. He wondered who it was from. He tried to remember if he had seen any civilians come into the office that day, but he couldn’t recall. He hadn’t even thought to ask his coworkers if they saw the culprit, either.

So, it was a mystery. But that was fine: he was perfectly comfortable with mysteries, and this one was easy enough to solve. Carefully, he broke the tape and lifted the lid.

There was a cupcake inside the box. Just a single cupcake, albeit a fairly large one, about twice the size of Goro's fist.

Taped to the inside of the box was a card, an uncomfortably familiar card, black and red, with Goro's name printed neatly on the front. He tore it from the lid and flipped it over; there was a message on the back. He read it, quietly.

Goro didn't often feel anything when he opened a present. He didn't feel grateful, or happy, but he didn't feel UNhappy, either. They were just things, things he hadn’t asked for and very often didn’t want. This was – _should_ have been – more of the same.

Yet instead of the expected ambivalence that usually came to him after receiving an unwanted gift, Goro found himself feeling several things all at once; a torrent of conflicting thoughts that brought heat to his cheeks and made his hands shake so hard that he thought he might drop the box. Nearly stumbling in his haste, he shoved the box out of his hands and onto the table beside him, the card fluttering helplessly to the floor.

Goro sank back into the couch and did not know how to feel, at all.

* * *

  
It was late February.

Goro found himself standing in the director’s office, which was never a place he wanted to linger. It was rare, though, for Shido to call for Goro directly, so Goro bit his tongue and made the visit. Now Shido was pushing a thin manila folder towards him, which Goro took and gingerly opened, as if he was anticipating it would burst into flame or spill ink all over him.

Instead, he found about a half-dozen papers inside, and a single sticky note pressed on the inside cover, which had the words “Phantom Thieves of Hearts” written on it in messy black pen.

“This is… an assignment?” Goro asked.

Without looking towards him, Shido said, “Suspects are around your age, high schoolers. Truancy, trespassing, breaking and entering – there are plenty of reports, but no leads or proof of any actual wrong doings. Look into it.”

Goro opened his mouth to say something, but thought the better of it. He flipped the folder shut. “Thank you, sir,” he said, curt and polite to a fault. Shido did not respond.

Holding back a sigh, Goro turned heel and left the director’s office, taking care to close the door gently. He wasn’t expecting much; Goro tended to receive nothing but fluffy, meaningless cases, despite glowing recommendations from his immediate superiors, and he suspected it was largely Shido’s doing. Goro gave another look to the unassuming folder in his hands, and wondered if he wasn’t about to see more of the same.

Although… Shido’s explanation had been a little enigmatic, and Goro couldn’t help but wonder about the case. Maybe, if he was lucky, it would be an actual legal dispute, even if it were over something frivolous.

With the faintest stirring of hope, Goro left the building and found his way to the small food court next door to the prosecutor’s office. He purchased a meat and rice dish from one of the less crowded kiosks and found a seat in the light, where he could sit down and look over the case file properly.

After a few sentences of reading, he leaned back in his chair and sighed. More of the same; though it was… different, he had to admit, from the kinds of cases he usually saw. Shujin Academy, a school that seemed familiar to Goro, though he couldn't place why, was having trouble with a… gang?

Goro wasn’t exactly sure. The first page catalogued a handful of police reports dating back to about mid-January, but they were all frustratingly vague. A student’s boyfriend claimed to have received anonymous threats – but those threats weren’t described. Another report mentioned something about private text messages that had been printed out and plastered all over the school – Goro thought they might have been trying to get a vandalism charge, but no one was ever found responsible.

It was vague, but more than that, it was _juvenile_ – this wasn’t a police matter, Goro thought. If there were bullies at the school, wasn’t that something the principal should be taking care of…?

Goro took a moment to enjoy his meal, and then flipped to the next page.

To say the report had buried the lede would be an understatement. _Now_ he was starting to see why there was a paper trail. The second page was significantly more detailed than the first, outlining a recent event he actually remembering hearing about: the resignation of Suguru Kamoshida.

That was only two weeks ago, as Goro recalled, and it had made quite a few waves on the local news. He hadn’t paid it too much attention, but he knew the gist of it. Kamoshida had been a well-respected teacher and coach, when seemingly out of nowhere he confessed to abusing the students on his team, and resigned of his own accord.

Goro had thought it strange, but not absurdly so – perhaps his guilt had finally caught up with him. It wasn’t impossible for someone to confess from a guilty conscience alone. However, the case file contained an additional detail Goro hadn’t recalled hearing on any of the news reports: someone was claiming responsibility for Kamoshida’s confession. Rather, not someone, but a whole group of people.

Evidently, the day before Kamoshida’s resignation, several posters had appeared at Shujin, all calling out Kamoshida and alluding to a secret that he needed to confess. The posters were signed with a logo – a little top hat with crazy-eyed glasses, a photo of which was included in the case file – and the phrase “Phantom Thieves of Hearts”.

After it finishing describing Kamoshida’s resignation, the case file was disappointingly sparse, and Goro found himself wanting for more details. It seemed like the whole affair could simply be a prank – it wouldn’t be unexpected for high school students to make up something silly like this – but the consistency between the calling cards and the logo made him wonder. And could it really be called a “prank” when the end result was a teacher’s resignation…?

“What’s this, Akechi-kun?”

Startled from his thoughts, Goro looked up to find a tall woman in a gray blazer standing near his table. “Ah, Sae-san,” he said, smiling pleasantly and sitting up a little straighter. “A new case. Shido-san just gave it to me; I’ve only just started to look over it.” Then he gestured towards the seat beside him, raising his eyebrow in a silent question.

Sae frowned, but accepted his offer and took a seat beside him. “May I…?” she asked, and Goro nodded, sliding the open folder carefully towards her. He returned to his meal for a moment while Sae had a chance to read the notes. He was just finishing up the last of his rice when Sae spoke again.

“Oh… so you’re the one. I see.”

Goro swallowed and gave Sae a confused look. “Hmm? I don’t follow.”

Sae closed the folder and pushed it back towards him. “Oh, I heard about this case while it was first developing. I’m… surprised it went to you, is all.”

“Why’s that?” Goro asked. He came off more accusatory than he had intended, so he tried to offset it by giving Sae a small, good-natured smile. She gave him a pity smile in return.

“If I’m being honest, the whole thing seems… nebulous. To be frank, I haven’t seen a scrap of solid evidence that this group even exists,” she said. Her eyes looked apologetic.

It wouldn’t be the first time Goro had been given a fool’s errand disguised as a job, and Sae knew that – no wonder, then, that she was skeptical. She was always cautious by nature, in Goro’s experience, and he had to admit that this time, she had a point.

Nonetheless, Goro found himself shaking his head. “I understand your concern, Sae-san. But even if it turns out to be nothing, isn’t it better to know that definitively than to speculate endlessly?”

“Hmm… I suppose you’re right. There may be some merit in that,” Sae admitted, and her features relaxed a little. “Just be cautious. It would be a shame for you to waste your time on something frivolous, Akechi-kun.”

“I appreciate your concern, Sae-san. Truly,” Goro said, smiling a hopefully disarming smile at her. Of all the people he knew, he felt he must be closest to Sae – she was the only one who would see through his affected smiles, so didn’t that mean she knew him the best?

This time, though, she either didn’t notice, or had decided to humor him. “All right, I’ll trust your judgment,” she said, “…this time.”

“You wound me,” Goro said, laughing, and Sae laughed along with him. She shook her head and stood up from her chair.

“Be safe, then,” she said, turning to leave, “and let me know if you need any assistance, all right?”

He reassured her that he would, and she took her leave. Then, with his company gone and his meal finished, Goro gathered up the Phantom Thieves case file and stashed it away in his attaché case. As he left the food court, he glanced idly at his watch. It was a little late, but if he hurried, he might be able to get to Shujin before all the clubs had let out for the day.

* * *

  
Shujin was an unassuming-looking place; no different than any other public school, Goro thought. It wasn’t exactly the first place you would expect a gang to form.

Though, was it even appropriate to label this group a “gang”? That was the question that had been on Goro’s mind during the train ride over to the school. It was the first word he thought of when he read about a group of people all purportedly working under one name, but right now these Thieves just that – nothing more than a name on a sheet of paper.

The good news was that the Shujin students were more than forthcoming. All Akechi had to do was loiter around until a club let out and ask someone – anyone – what they knew about the Phantom Thieves.

 _Everyone_ had a story.

One of his first notable finds was when he met a quiet, mousey-looking first year boy who claimed the Thieves had helped him directly.

“I don’t know how they found out,” he admitted after a few minutes of gentle small talk and probing on Goro’s part, “about my girlfriend… she was a third year when we met, and…”

He trailed off, and Goro waited.

“They helped me leave her,” he finally said. He stuffed a hand into his pocket and pulled out a rumpled envelope, which he offered to Goro. The envelope itself was unmarked, but the letter inside had the Phantom Thieves’ logo drawn in the upper right corner. Actually, Goro realized after a second glance, it wasn’t drawn, it was _printed_ , like some kind of… Phantom Thieves letterhead. He frowned, and filed that strange observation away for another time.

Skimming through the letter, a few things stood out. First was the use of full names – the boy’s and his girlfriend’s. It was personal to be sure, but also straightforward and professional, filled with information for someone who needed the support to leave a relationship, and it ended with a promise that they would be keeping an eye on him. It was signed by “the Phantom Thieves,” with no specific names or titles otherwise.

Goro briefly considered suggesting that it was one of his friends who penned the letter and had used the Phantom Thieves name as a cover… but he didn’t have the heart. So he took a quick picture of the letter, thanked the boy, and moved on.

Next he ran into a pair of students who had a more mixed set of opinions. The first student, a studious, serious looking girl, said they were just some stupid prank, nothing to be concerned about. But her friend, a taller girl who was chewing loudly on a piece of gum, had said she thought the Thieves were very real; they “added some romance to the school, so wasn’t it more fun to think they were real?”

“But… _why?_ ” Goro blurted out. He quickly cleared his throat and adjusted his tone – he had meant to keep that thought to himself. “That is, why did they form in the first place? For someone anonymous to involve themselves in other people’s lives like that… is it really simple altruism?”

Bubblegum girl seemed surprised by his reaction. She chewed thoughtfully for a moment and shrugged. “I dunno what you mean, but maybe it’s just, like… important to them?”

Great… A bunch of self-important high school students using an anonymous pen name to pass judgment on their peers. _What a treat this assignment is going to be_ , Goro thought.

The girls exchanged glances, and then the studious girl commented, “Hey, you should talk to Mishima.”

Bubblegum girl’s eyes lit up and she nodded enthusiastically. “Oh yeah, yeah! He’s like, way into the Thieves. He’s on the volleyball team y’know.”

That caught Goro’s attention – someone on the volleyball team might have more valuable insight than a random student. He should have thought of that himself. They directed him towards the gym. He thanked them for their help and, feeling pressed for time, picked up his pace. He was so focused on reaching his destination that when he finally did, he very nearly collided with someone as they were exiting the gym.

“Pardon me,” he stammered, shifting backwards and giving an apologetic little bow, “But I’m looking for someone on the volleyball team, do you think you could…?”

The boy in front of him was slender, a little pale, with choppy dark blue hair. He looked nervous, but he still managed to reply, “Oh, um… sure. Who are you looking for?”

Goro clicked his tongue, and pulled the name from his memory. “Mishima.”

The boy’s eyebrows shot up. “That’s, uh… me. I’m Mishima.”

“Oh?” Goro mimicked the boy’s expression, and then smiled softly. “How fortunate. Not that I nearly hit you, I mean, but… that is, do you have a moment?”

Mishima looked around, over his shoulder, like he was checking if anyone was about to ambush him. When he was satisfied, he turned back to Goro and nodded. They meandered away from the gym door to a spot over near the wall.

“So, you’re a part of the volleyball team?” Goro asked. Mishima looked away, and then nodded meekly. Goro allowed his expression to soften. He hadn’t considered that the incident with Kamoshida still wasn’t very far out, especially not for someone who had been personally victimized. “I’m sorry; I didn’t mean to bring up bad memories.”

“No, it’s okay,” he replied, giving Goro a small smile. “I don’t have to worry any more… thanks to them.”

“Yes… the Thieves,” Goro said. He leaned back against the wall, and Mishima matched his movements – which Goro took to be a good thing. “I was hoping to hear a little more about them, actually. Someone told me you were the person to talk to…?”

“Yeah,” Mishima laughed nervously. “I’m… sorta the expert on the Thieves around here.”

“Then I hope this doesn’t come off as flippant,” Goro began, “But I was wondering if you knew if they were real?”

Mishima laughed again, but it was more good-natured this time, like he really did find it amusing. “I guess that’s fair. Obviously, I’m going to answer “yes” to that question, but I think I understand why some other people wouldn’t.” He trailed off, his eyebrows furrowing in thought. “Oh, uh… here, hold on,” Mishima scrambled to open his backpack and pull out a scrap of paper, upon which he wrote a hasty message. He then presented the paper to Goro, who took it with a polite nod. There was a web address written down. “That’s my blog,” Mishima explained, “for – y’know, for fans of the Thieves. I’ve written a few articles about the things they’ve done so far… sounds like that might be what you’re looking for?”

“That sounds incredibly helpful. Thank you, Mishima-san.”

Mishima smiled like a flower that was afraid to open up all the way: lacking in confidence, but genuine. “Hey, no problem. I hope it helps.”  
  
After a slightly awkward goodbye, Goro finally left Shujin. He looked down at the scrap of paper Mishima had given him. He was pleased; it wasn't much to go on, but it was a significant improvement over the scant information in his case file. With any luck, he'd be able to wrap up this case in short order and move on to something more worthwhile.


	2. Chapter 2

“Phantom Thieves of Hearts?”

“Yes. Have you heard of them, Togo-chan?”

For a moment, Hifumi was quiet. She was like that, at times, especially when they were playing a game – always thinking three moves ahead. Goro leaned back in the pew and waited.

He had long since accepted the fact that he was not, and never would be, as good at Shogi as Hifumi. At least he could take comfort in the fact that he had improved since he met her; there were days now when they would play to a draw, but they were few and far between. The losses didn’t trouble him, though. It was still fun, and – for him at least – the games were mostly a backdrop for their conversations. His meetings with Hifumi on rainy evenings were one of the few times Goro found himself socializing outside of work.

It was chance that they had ever met in the first place. He was not one to visit churches of his own volition, but one evening work had brought him there, and he happened to see her sitting by herself in the front row of pews.

Goro wasn’t sure why he decided to sit down and ask for a game with her – maybe he saw a bit of himself in her, stubbornly alone, playing against an invisible enemy… or maybe he was just craving a game of skill.

So after their first game (which had been embarrassingly short; Hifumi had absolutely destroyed him), Goro decided to come back, once, and then several times again. Often the only words exchanged between them were to initiate a game and when Goro had to admit he lost. It probably would have continued on like that forever, if Goro hadn’t seen her on a magazine cover one day.

When he brought it up, Hifumi had started to cry.

It was awkward for Goro, who was unsure how to approach the whole situation. It seemed impolite to touch someone he only barely knew, but ruder still to leave, so he settled for waiting patiently, like he was now, until her tears dried up.

And then they spoke.

In one evening, they spoke more than they had during half a dozen Shogi games past. Their game completely forgotten, they spoke until a minister kicked them out of the church for the night, and then they found an open café and continued to speak.

Goro did not consider himself someone who could find commonalities with a relative stranger, but Hifumi, who wanted only to be a respected Shogi player, whose mother was pushing her unwillingly into the spotlight, was an exception.

Now they would meet up regularly. Sometimes they had quiet days, like in the beginning, but more often than not, they would exchange pleasantries and gossip, worries and achievements, while playing a game. Goro found Hifumi had become something of a confidant for him – a friend, even.

A sharp clacking noise broke Goro out of his thoughts, and he focused just quickly enough to see Hifumi place her piece with a decisive flair. She looked up to meet his eyes. “I’ve heard the name,” she said, “but only just recently.”

Goro stared at the Shogi board, and made his own move in a fraction of the time it had taken Hifumi. “I’m not surprised you haven’t heard much, since they seem to be from Shujin Academy,” he said.

“Is that so?” Hifumi asked. She took her move, and seemed to settle into a rhythm. She didn’t make eye contact, but she continued: “That isn’t your school. How did you learn about them?”

“New case,” Goro replied. “I only just received it. Details are a bit scarce, so I’ve been trying to gather information from wherever I can.”

That was true, although he was feeling more informed today than he had been yesterday. He had found a moment to pull up Mishima’s blog, and it was not, to his surprise, written with the sort of overt fanboyish enthusiasm that Goro had sensed while talking to Mishima. In fact, it was quite well put together.

The first thing he did was find the oldest post on the blog and read it. He didn’t have to go far; the blog had only been started in February – just after Kamoshida’s resignation, by Goro’s count.

Mishima’s writing was simple and straightforward, but effective and detailed. The first post was titled “The Phantom Thieves’ First Success” and that was indeed what it was about.

 _As of the publishing of this blog,_ Mishima had written, _there are only two known incidents that have been confirmed to have been orchestrated by the Phantom Thieves._

Only two – that was news to Goro. The police file had nearly a dozen small reports of incidents attributed to the Phantom Thieves, not to mention the personal anecdotes from Shujin’s student body. But perhaps Mishima was referring to only the most public incidents.

_Today, we’ll be looking at the first – and lesser-known – incident, when the Phantom Thieves made their public debut. To begin, we need to go back to January. Some of you from Shujin might not even know that this incident was the Phantom Thieves’ doing! Although it involved a student from Shujin, most of the action occurred in the Shinjuku district…_

Goro started to skim. After a few lines, he recognized this as one of the incidents that was on the first page of his case file – the incident where a student’s text messages had been printed out and turned into posters. The details seemed to be that a student from Shujin had been dating a man who was working at a host club in Shinjuku.

Somehow – Mishima had to admit he was speculating at this point, but he theorized that a worried friend managed to approach the Thieves directly – word got around that the student’s boyfriend taking advantage of her, and even potentially grooming her to work some less than savory jobs.

Then the Thieves began to work. As Mishima described the incident, he included a trio of pictures to go along with his explanations. The first was of a hallway in Shujin, with dozens of pieces of papers plastered to the walls. The second was the storefront of a bar in Shinjuku, similarly covered in posters. Finally, he included a close up of one of the papers, so that the writing could actually be read.

The texts were… awful. All names had been redacted, but it was clear the messages were written by the boyfriend, complaining about his girlfriend to his… friends? Colleagues? It didn’t really matter. It was a facet of his personality that had been carefully hidden from his girlfriend, which the Thieves intended to expose.

It was enough. As Mishima told it, the texts emboldened the girlfriend enough that she was able to lean on her friends and escape from his grasp. An abuser was exposed, and a student’s life was changed for the better… Pretty simple stuff.

There were also two posts about the Kamoshida incident, but Goro felt he had a good enough understand of that event for now, and could read them another time. There was a forum, too, which Goro likewise decided to skip for the time being. Now he was more interested in learning about just how far the rumors had spread.

After he filled Hifumi in on the broad details, she asked, “Are you worried?”

Goro sighed through his nose and contemplated the question. “Somewhat,” He finally settled on saying. “I’m worried about the case’s legitimacy mostly, but my visit to the school left me…” He trailed off, noticing that Hifumi was staring at him, smiling. He frowned. “What?”

Her eyes flicked down to the game board. Goro followed her glance, and found that Hifumi had put him in checkmate. He laughed softly, leaning back. “Ha… I admit defeat,” he said. He couldn’t keep the disappointed sigh out of his voice.

Hifumi gave him a warm, apologetic smile, and started to gather her pieces. “You were distracted.”

“I appreciate the sentiment, but you were holding a conversation with me, as well,” Goro replied.

Hifumi giggled a little. They quietly cleaned up their game for a few minutes, and then Hifumi said, “You know, those rumors you’re talking about are actually the second thing I've learned about them - the Phantom Thieves. Now that I think about it, one of my classmates has mentioned having some trouble with them.”

“Trouble?” Goro repeated. Now, that was an interesting word. “In what way?”

“Well,” Hifumi tapped her chin, “It’s not that he’s the one having trouble, I think. It’s his mentor. I don’t know the details.”

“Hmm…” Goro leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “Fascinating.” One incident could be written off as a fluke, and two a coincidence, but if they Thieves were harassing a third person, that was starting to turn into a pattern.

“Mm,” Hifumi nodded. “I’ll see him tomorrow – would you like me to ask him if he’d be willing to meet with you?”

Goro smiled. “That would be wonderful, Togo-chan. I would greatly appreciate it.”

 

* * *

 

He really did appreciate Hifumi’s offer to help, and she was efficient, too; she texted him the very next day with an address, a name, and a time to meet.

But now that he was standing in the middle of a bustling art exhibit, he was starting to feel desperately out of his element.

Art was something adults liked to talk about, but only superficially. It was a “proper” hobby, made them seem cultured, and so Goro learned the language, learned about the great classic artists, and modern artists as well, of course. He could hold his own in a conversation, impress his superiors with his comprehension of art theory, but it was all meaningless fluff.

He thought such empty platitudes wouldn’t be appreciated by an actual artist. So he was feeling lost now, apprehensive. He was starting to realize he did not have an actual opinion on art, at least not one to call his own.

Case in point: the piece he was currently standing in front of was a mystery to Goro. He liked it, probably, he decided after a long moment. Right? It was aesthetically pleasing, nicely put together, so surely he should like it. But he didn’t _feel_ anything toward it… as far as he could tell.

“What do you think?”

A soft voice broke Goro out of his trance, and he found a young blue-haired boy had appeared at his side. Goro thought they were about the same age, and took note of his uniform, which he recognized as Kosei’s – he had seen Togo-chan wearing one just like it.

When Goro didn’t respond, the boy nodded towards the canvas in front of them. “About her, I mean. _Sayuri_.”

“O-oh,” Goro stammered, and cleared his throat, “I…” _Damn, I never did form a coherent opinion, did I…_ he deflated a little. “It… touches me,” he said eventually. “But in what way, I admit I don’t quite know.”

To his immense relief, the boy smiled, a soft little uptick of his lips, pointed not at Goro, but at the painting.

“I feel the same,” he said. “I have struggled to parse _Sayuri_ for as long as I have been under my master’s tutelage.”

They fell into silence, and Goro hazarded a guess: “You… must be Kitagawa-san, is that right?”

“Yes,” the boy replied, and his smile faded, leaving a neutral but polite expression. “And you are the detective that Togo-chan mentioned?”

“Yes – Akechi,” he said. “Are you comfortable speaking here? Should we sit?”

Kitagawa looked around briefly, and then lingered on a door hidden in the back of the room. “Let us go somewhere a little less crowded, if you wouldn’t mind.”

That was more than okay to Goro, and he gladly let Kitagawa lead the way to a quiet alcove just outside the exhibition hall, where they managed to find an empty bench to sit on.

“Did Togo-chan tell you anything about why I wished to speak with you?” Goro asked.

“She did,” Kitagawa said. “I’m surprised, actually. I didn’t realize this group was well-known.”

“I wouldn’t say that,” Goro said. “I’m with the Special Investigations Department, looking into them as a criminal matter. Outside of students at Shujin, I doubt many know of this group’s existence.”

Kitagawa’s eyes widened just the tiniest bit. “You’re with the police?” He asked. “I – forgive me. I should have realized that. I’ve been a bit distracted lately, I’m afraid.”

“It’s okay,” Goro quickly reassured him. “If you don’t mind answering… Have the Thieves harassed you in any way? Trespassing is a crime on its own, but anything else that happened could…”

“No, they – they did not trespass.” Kitagawa said. “They sent me a letter.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a gently rumpled sheet of paper, and handed it to Goro. “They simply wished to speak with me,” he continued. “As you can read, they claim to have some messages, purportedly written by my Sensei.”

“From Madarame?” Goro asked, and Kitagawa nodded. That was certainly consistent with the Thieves' previous MO: revealing private conversations to the public. Goro unfolded the piece of paper and looked it over. It was written on the same Phantom Thieves paper he had seen the other day at Shujin, which seemed to indicate that it had been sent by the same people. It was a short message, as Kitagawa said, throwing out accusations about Madarame and the promise of proof, if Kitagawa was interested.

Goro took a picture of this letter as well, then folded it back up and returned it to Kitagawa. “Do you believe they will try to contact you again?” he asked.

Kitagawa frowned. “I’m not sure. What would you do, if you knew where they would?”

Goro paused. “At this point, I am only interested in confirming their existence for myself. I have nothing but rumors to go on for now.” It was a half-truth; he did want to confirm their existence with his own eyes, but he was also hoping he could catch them doing something illegal. Still, Kitagawa seemed a little rattled, so Goro kept that last thought to himself.

Kitagawa looked down at his lap, fidgeting with his hands. “This letter was not the only correspondence I’ve had with the Thieves,” he admitted. “Not today, but tomorrow… that’s when they said they would contact me again.”

It seemed like a great strain for Kitagawa to reveal even this, so Goro decided it would be a good place to end the conversation. He thanked Kitagawa for his time, and gave him his phone number. “If you do ever feel threatened by them, please contact me. I’ll be able to help,” he said. Kitagawa nodded, but he seemed skeptical. Still, that was probably the best Goro could hope for.

On the train ride home, Goro pulled up the picture of Kitagawa's letter, reading it over again, and compared it to the letter he had seen at Shujin. The writing style even seemed to match; there was no doubt that these letters had been written by the same person. Knowing that... Goro drummed his fingers on his leg.

It was a good thing he wasn't busy tomorrow.

 

* * *

 

It was a quiet night, no wind at all, and everything was still, except for the lumpy shadow that Goro was following.

He called it a shadow because he was relatively certain it was a human he was following – it was vaguely human-shaped and about the right height for a human, and it seemed to be walking on two legs, but it was supernaturally quiet. As much as he tried, Goro couldn’t even hear the other figure’s footsteps, and it made him acutely aware of how much noise he was making in comparison. He tried not to breathe, tried to muffle the sound of his footsteps by staying on the grass, and trailed the figure by a farther distance than was probably necessary – probably – and it was so much effort that Goro very nearly lost sight of his mark more than once.

Based on Kitagawa’s information, he had decided to drop by Madarame’s house that evening and keep watch for any potential visitors. This meant he had spent most of the evening crouched inside a bush, watching only birds go by… until the sun had set. Goro had blinked and nearly missed a quick shadow running across the street and effortlessly leaping up the side of Madarame’s house, landing on a second story balcony.

Goro had held his breath and stared up. He had been waiting so long that he was starting to think the whole thing was a bust, and now that someone had actually showed up, Goro wasn’t sure what to make of it. This had to be a Phantom Thief, right? Otherwise, the level of coincidence it would take for someone to show up at this exact location, at the exact time Kitagawa had said the Thieves were going to show…

Above him, a door opened, and Goro could barely see that the Thief had been joined by another person, presumably Kitagawa. Though he tried, he couldn’t hear what they were saying. So instead, he waited. Goro didn’t much care about what they were saying – well, sure he _cared_ , but he was more interested in seeing where this Thief had come from… and where he would be going after this.

Carefully, Goro removed himself from his hiding place, and hung back in the shadows of a tall tree, waiting for the meeting to conclude. And when the Thief finally left, Goro followed.

Followed for _quite_ a while, Goro thought with a gruff sigh. He felt like this chase had been going on for over an hour. It didn’t help that the figure was taking a very roundabout route back to Shibuya, winding through several neighborhood blocks before emerging in a wooded area of some kind. Goro was glad for the abundance of grass, at least, and the trees gave him more cover – unfortunately, it was the same for his target.

He took a moment to catch his breath when he lost sight of his target altogether. He strained his eyes, staring through the darkness – but no, they were gone.

Goro’s shoulders slumped. A sensation of… guilt, perhaps, started to overcome him; he had just spent the better part of an hour following someone, and he had nothing to show for it, save exhaustion – he didn’t even know if he was following a Phantom Thief or some common burglar.

Goro turned, and he stopped dead, because standing not ten feet away were not one, but three people, one of which was undeniably the same mark Goro had been following all this time. They were huddled together, speaking, although they were too far off and speaking too softly for Goro to make out anything intelligible. So he ducked down low to the ground to give himself some more cover, and observed.

By some stroke of luck on Goro’s part or absent-mindedness on the shadow’s part, they had stopped close to a streetlamp, and Goro could make out a few more details. They were all definitely human, he was thrilled to conclude, and all dressed fairly similarly: in plain clothes, though they all seemed to be sporting hoodies.

Goro’s original target had his hood up, and so did one of the others, but the third seemed to be wearing a piece of cloth – maybe a bandana – over their head. But what was strange was the way their faces were shadowed, even accounting for the light from the streetlamp. One of them turned so that Goro could get a good look at them head-on, and the entire top half of their face was jet black, with two small, oval-shaped spots of very dark grey – presumably eyes.

Goro had to give them credit: They weren’t overtly suspicious. It was a cool night and anyone could be forgiven for wearing their hood, and they looked so relaxed and casual that they could easily have been a group of friends who were meeting after work – that is, if they had decided to congregate anywhere OTHER than a dead-end trail in the middle of a park.

The group suddenly shifted and Goro snapped to attention. The trio had split up, and each was going their separate way. After only a second of hesitation, Goro decided he would continue to tail his original target – except when he looked up again, they had disappeared.

 _Great,_ he thought. It was time to cut his losses and turn in for the night. It was still practically winter time, and the evening chill had settled into his bones, numbing his fingers even through his gloves. He pulled out his phone and checked his GPS, and barely held back a disgruntled sigh. He must have been tailing that guy for nearly two miles…

He pocketed his phone and stood up a bit straighter, and when he took a step forward, he very nearly ran into someone – his mark. It was a boy, nearly Goro’s height, wearing a dark grey hoodie under a fitted black trench coat, but the most striking thing was the pearl-white jester mask covering the top half of his face.

“Hey,” he said.

“ _God,_ ” Goro gasped, stumbling backwards.

The stranger laughed out loud. “Sorry, sorry,” he said, holding his hands up. “Didn’t mean to scare you.” Then a long smirk spread across his face, making him look like an eerie puppet. “Well, maybe I did a little. I mean, you _have_ been stalking me for a while now…”

Goro felt, somehow, even colder than he already was. His legs locked in place, and while he managed to keep his face placid, stoic, he found he couldn’t find a word to say.

The Thief trailed off, then his eyes widened. “Wait, you weren’t hoping for an autograph, were you?” He shook his head, but he was grinning, and he produced a little notebook from a hidden jacket pocket. “Sorry, sorry, I’m still not used to this ‘minor celebrity’ thing. Here ya go.”

He tore a sheet of paper out of the notebook and presented it to Goro with a flourish. The word “Joker” was scribbled in something that vaguely resembled cursive.

This seemed to bring Goro back to his senses. He swatted Joker’s hand away.

Joker’s face fell. “Harsh,” he said, though he didn’t sound especially cut up about it. He pulled his hand away and stuffed the paper back into one of his pockets, then crossed his arms and leaned casually against a tree trunk. “Well then,” he started up again, and god, Goro could already feel his patience wearing thin, “Why _were_ you following me, if you aren’t a fan?”

Goro held his tongue. His mind was still racing, and he hadn’t exactly been expecting to end up in this situation – who plans on getting caught?

“Cat got your tongue?” Joker asked after a moment. “You know, if you won’t tell me who you are, I’ll just find out myself.”

Was that a threat?

“You… are a Phantom Thief. Is that right?” Goro finally asked, his voice wooden. He desperately needed to clear his throat, but to save face, he forced the cough down.

“It sure is,” Joker said. “So you are a fan after all.”

Ignoring that comment, Goro launched into his spiel. “The things you’ve been doing… I’ve read about what you did. Why take this all upon yourself? If you’re concerned about someone’s well-being, why not go to the police?” Goro asked.

“Ha…” The thief looked away, sighing just a little. “I’d laugh, but you look like you’re actually serious.” He took a moment to size Goro up. “Do you work for them? The police, I mean. You seem kinda young.”

Goro plastered a tight-lipped smile on his face. “And you seem a bit young to be a criminal vigilante, yet here we are.”

Joker laughed again, a noise that sounded much more genuine than Goro’s smile. “Fair enough.” He said. “You said you know what we’ve done, right?” Joker asked. “Adults knew about Kamoshida. Not the details, but they knew. Students had spoken up before. But it’s not illegal to treat your team roughly. So tell me, what would the police have done?”

Goro frowned. It was true that the police couldn’t simply arrest someone for doing something morally wrong but legal. They were bound by the same laws as anyone else.

Before he could say anything, Joker continued, “We’re looking out for each other. And ourselves.”

“For now,” Goro said. “How long until you start using your anonymity for your own gain?”

Surprisingly, Joker looked a little offended. “We have morals,” he said.

“And what are those?” Goro asked sharply. “Everything’s fine until someone disagrees with you?”

“Huh…” Joker brought a hand to his chin, staring curiously at Goro. “You’re pretty idealistic, aren’t you?” he asked.

"What–" Goro spluttered, caught off-guard. "What do you mean...?"

"It's nothing," Joker said, waving his hand. "I just wonder what your plan was. What were you hoping to accomplish by confronting me tonight? Were you hoping to change my mind? Or were you planning to arrest me?" He splayed his fingers over his mouth, though it barely hid his smug, toothy grin. “My team is long gone by now,” He broke out into a full-blown smirk, “and I wonder... if I ran, do you think you’d be able to follow me this time?”

Before Goro could reply, Joker had sprung up from his relaxed position against the tree and took off running into the woods. A split-second of hesitation and Goro tore off after him, but it was obvious within seconds that Joker was long gone. Goro slowed to a halt and stared out into the park. The wind was still again, and there wasn't even a hint as to which direction Joker had gone - no rustling bushes, not even a depression in the grass where his footsteps had fallen. He had simply vanished into the night.

Frustrated, cold, and a little embarrassed, Goro turned on his heel and got the hell out of the park.

 

* * *

 

Nearly an hour later, Goro dragged himself through his apartment door. It was late, past 11:00, and though Goro wanted nothing more than to take a hot shower and pass out on his bed, he knew he had one more thing to do. If he didn't do it now, while the encounter with Joker was still fresh in his mind, he might not do it at all.

Goro sat down at his laptop, took a deep breath… and began to type.

_Phantom Thieves Case Update #1_

_After following up on a promising lead, I have had my first encounter with an alleged Phantom Thief. The group appears to consist of at least three members; in the dark, I was unable to definitively identify the age or sex of any members, aside from one, who appears to be a high school-aged male. They appear to be using code names. The one Thief I was able to speak with identified himself as "Joker".  
_

_It seems that their current target is Ichiryusai Madarame, connected to the Thieves via Yusuke Kitagawa, a student at Kosei. If I am to venture a guess, I would say that the Thieves pick their targets based on rumors heard at school or through their peers - this is consistent with the Kamoshida incident, as well. This would indicate that they are all roughly the same age as the people they intend to "help"._

_Whether these people are the Phantom Thieves that originated at Shujin Academy or simply copy-cats, I have yet to determine. Nonetheless, I feel I have made a promising start, and will continue to capitalize on the momentum gained through my investigation tonight.  
_

_\--Goro Akechi_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm firmly on team "Goro and Hifumi would make great friends"... am I the only one? 
> 
> Thank you all for your comments and kudos! I hope you continue to enjoy!


	3. Chapter 3

It had been a shock, Goro had to admit, to actually meet an alleged Phantom Thief, and he was still have troubling putting his thoughts together the next day. How brazen did you have to be to run around committing crimes in public while wearing such a recognizable mask?

Not that he had actually committed any crimes that night, Goro conceded. Kitagawa had agreed to the meeting, so it could hardly be called trespassing when Joker actually showed up to talk, and meeting up with friends at night wasn’t a crime…

Nonetheless, Joker hadn’t denied any criminal wrongdoing during their conversation. In fact, Goro now felt he had a good handle on what sort of vigilantism the Thieves tended – or intended – to commit. So when he asked for a copy of every police report the office had received for the past week, he knew what complaints could be potential leads.

Actual theft was, ironically, one of the first things he discounted – he was looking for harassment, vandalism, things of that ilk, and once he finally finished pouring over every last page, he had found only four or five reports that he thought might fit with what he knew about the Phantom Thieves. He wasn’t exactly confident they would be _helpful_ leads, but it was something.

Right as Goro was gathering his things to leave the office, he noticed someone walk by, so briskly that he couldn’t help but look up. He was surprised to see Kitagawa there, trailing a few paces behind a much older man who was making his way to Shido’s office with a determined gait.

Goro recognized the older man as Madarame, from online articles he had read before he went to meet Kitagawa for the first time. Strange, though – what was he doing here? Had something else happened last night that Goro hadn’t seen? After waiting a beat, Goro got up from his desk and followed them.

Kitagawa stopped just short of Shido’s office, while Madarame waltzed inside and nearly slammed the door shut. As soon as Goro came within a few feet of Shido’s office, he could hear a voice, only slightly muffled from the door – Madarame, yelling.

“I am _furious_ that they were able to breech my security as far as they were,” Madarame snarled. Goro’s eyebrows shot up. It was rare to hear someone speak so harshly to Shido. Madarame continued on, “Did you not listen to my original complaint in the slightest?”

Now _that_ was an interesting conversation, one Goro was going to have to try and extract from Shido later on. For the time being, however, he had someone else to question.

“Ah, Kitagawa-san…?” Goro asked, and Kitagawa jumped in place, whipping around to face Goro. He had been facing Shido’s office door and hadn’t seemed to notice Goro’s approach. Holding up his hands apologetically, Goro said, “I’m sorry to startle you. Um…” He trailed off briefly; behind the door, Madarame had launched into another speech, and Kitagawa winced visibly. “Do you have a moment?” Goro asked. “To talk,” he added, gesturing down the hallway.

Kitagawa nodded quickly and let Goro lead him away from Shido’s office. He seemed grateful to be away from Madarame’s tantrum. They took a seat on a small bench near the office’s front lobby, and for a moment they sat in silence, giving Goro some time to observe Kitagawa.

Something had changed. Kitagawa had been fairly reserved during their previous meeting, sure, but this was a whole new level of shyness. Now he was practically skittish; his shoulders were tense and his eyes were darting around, behind Goro’s back, at Shido’s door, watching for… something.

Goro was a fairly skilled detective – he had earned his place in the office – and he thought he would have found this suspicious no matter what. But considering what had happened last night? He couldn’t help but see red flags.

“Did something happen?” Goro finally asked, as a sort of neutral conversation-starter. He wasn’t sure he was ready to show his hand, so he opted for something without much substance.

It took a moment for Kitagawa to respond. “Sensei… discovered that the Thieves were on his property last night,” he said at last. His voice was polite, in a detached sort of way, the way you would speak when you didn’t want to talk but knew it would be worse to try and skirt the conversation. “And… and this is unrelated, but some of my… _frustrations_ towards Sensei came to light last night,” he added. “I believe this is contributing to his poor mood.”

“I see,” Goro said. “I’m sorry to hear that.” He did not comment further; now wasn’t the time to voice his speculations, especially not to Kitagawa… although he had a sneaking suspicion that the two events were not as unrelated as Kitagawa was implying.

“It was something that needed to be said,” Kitagawa said, waving his hand dismissively. “Though I regret the circumstances, I do not regret what I said.”

“That’s good, then,” Goro replied. But before he could ask anything else, they were both distracted by the sound of Shido’s door opening. Madarame was leaving, walking with far less energy than when he had come into the office, and his expression was stone cold and ambiguous. It was hard to tell how the conversation had gone just by looking at his face.

Kitagawa stood up, ready to leave. “Oh…” he said, turning back to Goro, “Lastly, I wanted to tell you that I will soon be moving from Sensei’s home, so I don’t believe the Thieves will be contacting me any further.”

Goro frowned. “Do you think a simple change of address will be enough for you to hide from them? They were able to find you before. Are you sure they’re finished with you?”

“It’s simply a feeling,” was all Kitagawa offered as explanation. Madarame passed them by, not stopping to wait for Kitagawa.

Goro stood up quickly. “Well… thank you for your time, Kitagawa-san,” he said.

“It’s no trouble,” Kitagawa said, already moving to follow Madarame out the door. Just as he was turning away, however, Goro thought he saw the faintest trace of a smile come to Kitagawa’s face.

Strange… that had certainly been a strange conversation. It left Goro with more questions than answers, and he wasn’t sure he’d be able to convince Kitagawa to speak with him any further, especially if he thought the Thieves were going to leave him alone. Though it was hardly what he wanted to do, and it would put off his errands even further, Goro decided to pay Shido a visit.

His door was still open, so Goro simply allowed himself inside.

“His story corroborates yours,” Shido said in lieu of a greeting.

“Come again?” Goro asked.

Shido gestured to his desk. Goro stepped forward and noticed a small little card on the desk. It was about the size of a standard business card, but it was covered in black and red swirls. Goro recognized the Phantom Thieves’ logo printed in white ink on the up-facing side of the card. He picked up the card and flipped it over.

More white ink, text this time – a message to Madarame. It was starkly different from the letters Goro had seen written to other students. It was sharp and accusatory, calling Madarame a fraud, but beyond that it felt intensely personal; Goro could barely understand some of the sentences. It was definitely a message tailored specifically to Madarame, as anyone else wouldn’t have the context to fully appreciate or understand the threats.

Still, it was fascinating. What did the Thieves have on Madarame? And what could they have said to Kitagawa to rattle him so badly? As Goro left Shido’s office, his mind was brimming with questions. He had to press this advantage.

 

* * *

 

Easier said than done.

Goro hadn’t fully appreciated how lucky he had been at the beginning of his investigation. All of Goro’s leads had lead to dead ends, and now that the Thieves weren’t contacting Kitagawa, Goro had nothing to go on, and it seemed that the Thieves were good at keeping hidden.

Even Mishima’s blog hadn’t been helpful. Goro ventured into the forum, hoping it would be a gossip haven, like Shujin itself had been, but no such luck. There was a shocking number of off-topic posts (but if Mishima was the sole person running the website, maybe he just didn’t have the time to moderate), and the posts that WERE on topic were frustratingly juvenile – nothing more than students lamenting their own problems and making half-serious wishes for the Phantom Thieves to help them.

Now, over halfway through March, what did Goro have to show for his efforts? Practically nothing.

Perhaps it was time to return to the source – to Shujin, that is – and speak with an actual authority figure this time. Nothing had been reported to the police that stood out as suspicious to Goro, but perhaps the principal knew something new… maybe even the student council had heard something.

As he was on his way to the school, Goro decided to find the student council president first. The principal might have more information about actual criminal matters, but if Goro was looking for rumors, he thought it might be better to start with someone a little closer to the students.

He arrived at Shujin a little earlier than he had on his first visit, and he found even more students milling around the halls. He found a directional sign that pointed him towards the third floor.

“Excuse me,” Goro said to a loitering third-year student, the first person he found on the third floor, “I’m looking for the student council president.”

“Huh? Oh, sure.” The student cast his eyes down the hallway, and then threw his hand in the air and waved frantically. “Hey, Prez!” he shouted. “Someone wants to talk to you!”

Goro sighed and refrained from pinching the bridge of his nose.

After being hailed, the student council president walked down the hall towards him with an unhurried air, her eyes focused on a set of papers she held in her arms. Her hair was deep brown, short, and neatly combed, and coupled with her straight posture, she appeared much more mature than her peers. When she looked up to greet him, Goro offered her a small, polite smile, which she returned to him.

“Makoto Niijima,” she said. “I’m the student council president. What can I help you with?”

Niijima? Goro repeated the name in his head. “I’m Goro Akechi,” he said, inclining his head towards her. “You said your name was Niijima? You’re not related to a Sae Niijima, are you?”

When he said Sae’s name, Makoto’s eyebrows rose in surprise. “My – my older sister,” she stammered, so suddenly and unexpectedly flustered that Goro thought she almost looked cute. “You know her, Akechi-san?”

“Mm,” Goro nodded. “I’ve worked with her on several occasions.” A mischievous smile found its way to his lips, and he added, “Had I known I would be visiting her sister today, I would have invited her along.”

Makoto shook her head and laughed nervously. “It’s probably best you didn’t. I wouldn’t want to trouble her.” Then she cleared her throat and her original, all-business expression returned. “At any rate… what is it I can help you with?” she asked.

“Ah, yes,” Goro said, “Well, if you know I work with your sister, it may not surprise you to learn that I am a detective. I’ve been looking into the Phantom Thieves, and as they are alleged to have formed at Shujin, I was hoping you’d be able to tell me a little about them, or about any recent happenings involving them?”

Makoto regarded him with a completely neutral poker face for a short moment, and then finally, she said, “I would be happy to, if they truly existed.”

That was not what he had been expecting. “You doubt their existence entirely, then?” Goro asked.

“I…” Makoto took a deep breath. “Here, would you mind relocating to the student council room?” she asked, gesturing to the door beside them. “Clubs are going on break soon. It might be difficult to hear…”

“Ah, of course,” Goro said. He followed her into the council room, a sparsely-decorated and well-organized space, no doubt thanks to Makoto’s influence. Makoto took a seat and motioned for Goro to sit down as well. He chose the chair on the table’s adjacent corner.

Makoto set down the papers she had been holding and fussed with them, neatening out the edges and laying them flat on the table. “There was an… incident…” she started, “a few weeks back that fanned the flames of the Phantom Thieves rumor.”

“You must mean the scandal involving Suguru Kamoshida, correct?” Goro asked, and Makoto nodded, “That was the first incident brought to my attention,” he said.

“Then you likely already know these Phantom Thieves claimed responsibility for Kamoshida’s confession, as well,” Makoto said.

“Indeed,” Goro said, “Though if they do not exist, as you say, what do you think was the meaning of that?”

Makoto took a deep breath. “I believe it was a student – or possibly a group of students – who wanted to give the school a… a figure to believe in,” she said. Her voice had lost some of its matter-of-fact tone. “I suspect that some or all of Kamoshida’s victims got together and presented him with irrefutable evidence that he believed would end his career,” she continued, “and forced him to confess to his crimes publically. Afterwards, several others decided to start the rumor that these Phantom Thieves had something to do with the confession, and the idea spread from there.”

“So you believe Kamoshida’s confession was the result of blackmail?” Goro asked.

Makoto pursed her lips. “I’m not sure,” she said. “I still don’t know what exactly happened. Kamoshida hasn’t spoken publicly since his confession, and he’s been barred from entering the school grounds. So, to call it blackmail… I just don’t have the proof.”

“Do you believe the students hurt by Kamoshida started the rumors?” Goro asked.

“I think it’s definitely possible,” Makoto said, “but again, I don’t have any proof one way or the other. I imagine the volleyball team – oh, Kamoshida coached volleyball – would be relieved to have a scapegoat to hide behind.”

“’Scapegoat’?” Goro repeated. “That’s… an interesting choice of words.”

“Perhaps that was the wrong way to put it,” Makoto said. “All I mean to say is: Kamoshida was an extremely well-liked teacher up until the day of his confession. When the rumors about him first began, the student body was absolutely livid. So having an invisible, anonymous group to hide behind… I can see why it would be an enticing plan.”

Goro hummed thoughtfully. “I see,” he said. “Since that incident, have the Thieves claimed responsibility for anything else?” he asked.

For a moment, Makoto looked as if she was about to shake her head, but something caused her to hesitate. “Nothing as significant as the incident with Kamoshida,” she said, “but the rumors have only gained traction since then. It would be easier to tell you the things the Phantom Thieves _haven’t_ claimed responsibility for.”

Makoto laughed, and Goro found himself laughing along with her. “Of course, of course,” he said. Interesting – a decisive non-answer. If she knew about Kitagawa and Madarame, she was keeping her mouth shut… or maybe she really didn’t know. Kitagawa wasn’t a Shujin student, so it was possible Makoto was only up-to-date on Shujin-centric Thieves rumors.

Regardless, it seemed that Makoto wasn’t interested in giving up any more specific information, at least not today. “Niijima-san,” Goro said, getting to his feet, “thank you. You’ve been extremely helpful.”

“Ah, there is one other thing,” Makoto said, standing up and making her way to the door. “May I walk you to the school gate? It’s on the way.”

“Hmm? Certainly,” Goro said, though he couldn’t keep his eyebrows from quirking up in curiosity. They descended two floors together, coming to a halt just outside the main office. Makoto gestured to a small, square box that was affixed to the wall.

It looked like an old-fashioned mailbox, with a thin slit on the top for letters. It was made of polished cherry wood, and it was, Goro was surprised to note, actually quite lovely. The front of the box was emblazoned with a crisp, smooth relief carving of the Phantom Thieves’ logo – a perfect replica, in fact. Furthermore, the edges fit together seamlessly, even where it was supposed to open; as he surveyed the box from all sides, Goro found a small lock set in the lower corner on the right side.

He looked at Makoto quizzically. “What is it?” he asked.

“I’m not sure what it’s supposed to be,” Makoto said, “but the students think of it as a request box for the Phantom Thieves.”

“A… request box,” Goro repeated.

“One day it wasn’t here, and the next, it was,” Makoto sighed and walked over to the box, giving the edge with the lock a strong tug. “I don’t have the key. I don’t know who does, or if there even is a key.” She frowned, and Goro thought it must have been particularly frustrating for the student council president to have restricted access to something on school grounds.

“If the rumors are so popular, couldn’t this simply be a prank?” Goro asked.

“Take a look inside,” Makoto said, gesturing to the opening on top of the box. Goro came closer and peered inside; he could see dozens of slips of paper sitting inside. It was nearly half-full, if he had to guess.

“As I said,” Makoto continued, “this has been here for several weeks. It never overflows, so I assume someone must be emptying it.”

Now this, at last, was an interesting development: proof that the Thieves were returning to Shujin, or someone who works for them… Goro was starting to formulate a plan. He thanked Makoto again and made to leave the school, but he stopped short and looked over his shoulder. He watched Makoto for a moment and then, once she was safely out of eyesight, he doubled back around and returned to Shujin.

He hurried up the steps to the second floor and knocked on the door of the principal’s office.

“Pardon me, sir…” Goro glanced at the name plaque on the principal’s desk, “Kobayakawa.”

The man behind the desk grunted in response, not bothering to look up or move from his seat, and Goro was suddenly struck with the thought that he was speaking to a heavyset Shido. Goro approached the desk and pulled out his detective badge, holding it down close to the desk so that Kobayakawa could just catch a glimpse of it in his peripheral vision.

It worked. The principal raised his head, and Goro could see the panic in his eyes.

“My name is Goro Akechi,” he said, smiling a sickly-sweet smile at Kobayakawa, “and I’m with the Special Investigations Department. May I have a moment of your time?”

Kobayakawa tried to smile, but it came off as more of a grimace. “Of course,” he said, “but I’m afraid I don’t know what business the prosecutor’s office could have at Shujin Academy.”

“I’ve been assigned to investigate the rumors about the Phantom Thieves of Hearts – and to apprehend them, if possible,” Goro said. He watched the principal’s eyes get wide. “To that end, I wanted to ask permission to enter the school after hours one day, perhaps a Sunday, for surveillance purposes.”

Kobayakawa recovered enough to look skeptical. “We have reviewed our security footage,” he said, “and I can assure you that we have not seen anyone who might be a part of the Phantom Thieves. The only people in our school on Sunday are the janitors, and occasionally the student council president or myself.”

“That’s unfortunate,” Goro said, frowning slightly. “I was hoping I wouldn’t have to involve the police any more than was strictly necessary. But if I need to obtain an official warrant…”

“No, that… that won’t be necessary,” Kobayakawa said through clenched teeth. “If you feel you must see for yourself, then we could allow one Sunday… one.”

“Of course,” Goro said, smiling wide. He reached into his pocket and pulled out one of his business cards, one with his extension number at the prosecutor’s office, and placed it on Kobayakawa’s desk. “We don’t have to work out the details at this moment. I’ll be in contact?”

“Yes… certainly,” Kobayakawa said, taking the business card and placing it into the top drawer of his desk.

“Thank you for your time, Sir. I won’t keep you any longer,” Goro finished, and took his leave from the office. He could just hear Kobayakawa’s dejected sigh before the door closed.

Goro smiled, for real this time, as he left Shujin again. He couldn’t have planned this day any better; now he had a genuine lead, and a chance to do some concrete surveillance. The only trouble now was the weather, as it had started to rain. Goro thought he could just brave the rain and head home early, but he wasn’t particularly eager to walk the block distance between the train station and his apartment complex.

Goro stood under the overhang at the entrance of the school and contemplated his next move. Meeting Makoto Niijima had brought Sae-san to mind – and hadn’t she mentioned visiting a café somewhere close to Shujin? It would be nice to pass the time somewhere dry, somewhere he could get a hot drink and take some time to look over his notes.

Goro liked to work away from his office, and even away from his house – there was something _too_ familiar about the places he visited every day, and he found himself falling into complacency, glazing over small details that he should have caught otherwise.

After quickly texting Sae for an address, Goro made his way to the train station, and after a short ride, he found himself in front of a little café in Yongen-Jaya. He pushed the door open and stepped inside. Instantly he could see why Sae liked the place: it had a homey atmosphere, and it was nearly empty – two traits he knew Sae liked in her cafés.

He noticed a few older folks occupying the booths to his left, so Goro opted to take a seat at the otherwise-vacant bar, just a little ways from the door. There were two people behind the counter: two men, one fairly old, the other just about Goro’s age, if he had to guess.

It was the older man who approached Goro after he sat down. “Ah… what’ll it be?” he asked. His voice was gruff, with a little lilt to it that sounded a bit like surprise to Goro, like he hadn’t been expecting someone like Goro to walk in the door.

Goro glanced along the menu on the far wall. “I’m just looking for a cup of coffee,” he said, “whatever you’d recommend? It’s my first time here.”

He surveyed Goro for a moment, and then nodded firmly. “Comin’ right up,” he said.

While he waited for his coffee, Goro pulled out a few papers from his briefcase and set them on the bar in front of him. He still had yesterday’s police reports to look over. He wasn’t expecting to find anything, but that no longer felt like the end of the world now that he knew he’d be able to investigate Shujin soon.

When his coffee came, the older barista set it down without a word. Goro took the cup and gingerly raised it to his mouth, carefully sipping the hot liquid. It was rich and bitter and blisteringly hot, but delicious. Goro felt his shoulders relax a little.

It really was nice to get out of the office every once and a while.

Goro slowly made his way through his coffee and his police reports. This time he only found one promising lead: a restaurant owner had received some vaguely threatening letters about one of their new hires. It wouldn’t have stood out to Goro, except that the restaurant’s location was incredibly close to Shujin, and the report mentioned a letter – maybe on the Phantom Thieves’ letterhead. It wasn’t described, so Goro thought at least he could go visit and see if the restaurant owner would let him see the letter.

As Goro was putting away his files, he noticed the barista – the young one – was looking at him. “Did you enjoy it?” he asked. A few feet behind him, Goro could see the other employee – the owner? – watching them with a sideways stare. “The coffee, I mean,” the barista clarified, and he reached out to collect Goro’s empty coffee cup.

“Oh,” Goro sat up a little straighter and smiled. “I did, thank you. It was quite delightful.”

The barista smiled back. “I’m glad to hear it,” he said. Then he looked over his shoulder at the older man and gave him a wry smile. The older man shook his head, and it was hard for Goro to tell if it was good-natured or not.

Goro took a second to look over the barista, and noticed a little nametag attached to his apron, which read “Kurusu”, and beneath his apron, a striking, familiar design on his slacks. “Your uniform…” Goro said, half to himself. Kurusu seemed to notice, however, so Goro pressed on, asking, “You attend Shujin?”

Kurusu nodded. He was quiet for a moment while he poured out a fresh cup of coffee, setting the mug down in front of Goro. “Yeah. I mean - sort of; I actually transferred there in January,” he said. He had a soft, clear voice, well suited to the quiet café.

“You’re a transfer student, then?” Goro asked, taking his new cup from the counter and taking a sip. “What brings you here?”

There was a brief moment where Kurusu’s eyes flickered away, down and to the right, before he picked up the rag he had been using to clean the table and resumed his chore. “I lived in a small town. My parents wanted to see if a big city would be better for my education,” he said.

His moment of hesitation had been fleeting, so brief that someone less observant might have missed it entirely. Goro couldn’t deny that he was curious why someone would lie about something so seemingly innocuous, but thought it would be rude to pry into the personal life of someone he had met not an hour ago.

So instead he took Kurusu’s words at face value and nodded pleasantly. “That’s quiet admirable of you, to leave your hometown for the sake of your studies,” he said. “How have you adjusted to your new home?”

Kurusu’s whole demeanor seemed to relax, and when he smiled, Goro felt an unexpected swell of pride. “Well enough, I guess,” Kurusu said with a shrug. “Made some friends. Got a job,” he gestured to the bar. “Everything a parent could hope for in a child, I suppose.” He quirked his lips up, and Goro found himself chuckling.

But then another customer called for Kurusu’s attention, leaving Goro to work through his second cup of coffee in solitude. As he was just getting to the dregs of the mug, Goro turned to look out the window. He could see that the rain had all but stopped now. He must have been here for over an hour by now… time to head out.

He stood up and made his way to the register, and Kurusu moved to meet him. “Thank you. You’re… Kurusu-san?” Goro asked the barista once he was finished paying.

“Oh, uh… yeah,” Kurusu said, rubbing the back of his neck with his free hand. “Uh, Akira. Sorry I didn’t introduce myself earlier.”

“It’s fine – I’m Goro Akechi,” Goro said, and he found himself smiling. “Thank you again, Kurusu-san, for the coffee and the conversation.”

Kurusu nodded. “Yeah, no problem. Any time.”

On his way out, Goro took a moment to look at the sign hanging above the door. Leblanc… he’d have to remember that. It was a little out of his way, but nonetheless, Goro found himself thinking he’d probably be back soon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for your patience this week! I hope everyone continues to enjoy. :>


	4. Chapter 4

Within a few blocks of Shujin Academy, there was a small shopping district, and in that shopping district, there was a restaurant. That restaurant sold sandwiches and… well, that was pretty much it. At least they sold an impressive _variety_ of sandwiches, Goro thought, skimming over the menu, and it seemed like they made their bread in-house, which helped set them apart. Shujin students liked the place well enough, too, considering over half the other patrons were wearing Shujin uniforms. Proximity to the school and affordable prices probably contributed to that.

Still, the overall dining experience was a little underwhelming. It was a little too bright, and a little too loud – although again, the plethora of Shujin students wasn’t helping in that regard – and it just wasn’t a place Goro thought he’d visit on his own if he didn’t have a reason.

But the owner had received a letter from the Phantom Thieves, and so here he was.

Goro allowed himself to feel proud for finding this lead in the first place. The complaint had been fairly vague – “I received a threatening letter” – and Goro had looked into a dozen similar stories that went nowhere, but considering the location, he thought this one was worth checking into.

He had arrived around an hour before Shujin classes were supposed to end, so the restaurant was mostly empty. A cursory search online told him that the restaurant’s owner was an older woman named Sachiko Nakano, and this was the woman who greeted Goro when he entered the shop. She was probably in her sixties, though Goro didn’t like to presume. She had her hair pulled back into a tight bun and was wearing an apron with the restaurant’s name embroidered on the front, leading Goro to conclude that in addition to owning the place, she was also an employee.

As he approached the counter, Nakano’s eyes grew wide. “Are you with the police?” she asked. A strange question to ask a customer, Goro thought, but her words were rushed and panicked, and Goro could see her wringing her hands below the countertop. Something was obviously causing her distress.

“Not – not exactly?” Goro said. “I’m a detective.”

Instantly, her face brightened. “Oh, thank you,” she said, hurrying out from behind the counter and clasping her hands together gratefully. “I’m so glad they sent you. The man I spoke with last week, he didn’t seem very concerned. But I,” she lowered her voice a little, “I live alone, you know. I know you might think it’s silly, but...”

“It’s not silly,” Goro assured her. He decided to focus on her last sentence instead of the first – Nakano really didn’t need to know that the police were not planning on sending anyone to check up on her, and no one would have, if Goro hadn’t come across her complaint by chance. He WAS here now, so who was to say the police didn’t send Goro on purpose? “Could I see the letter you received?” He asked.

Nakano nodded and pulled a piece of folded paper out of her apron pocket. Goro recognized the paper – specifically, the logo printed on the top of the letter. It was almost certainly a letter from the same Phantom Thieves he had been following. He unfolded the sheet and scanned the note. It read:

“Sachiko Nakano,

Do your due diligence on your potential employees, or we will do it for you.

You have a responsibility to your patrons, the students of Shujin, to keep them safe.

The Phantom Thieves of Hearts”

Goro pulled out his phone and took a quick picture of the letter before handing it back to Nakano. “I’ve seen a letter like this before,” he said, “and I feel confident in saying that the people who sent this letter don’t mean you any harm. Rather, I believe this letter is meant to be a warning.”

“A warning?” Nakano repeated.

“Yes,” Goro nodded. “Have you hired any new employees recently?”

Nakano shook her head. “Well, I’m looking into hiring someone, but nothing official yet.”

Interesting… Goro looked at the photo of Nakano’s letter, and then swiped back through his photos until he found the Shujin student’s letter. Comparing them, Nakano’s letter was much shorter, and it did feel a little more threatening, but… it wasn’t like the Thieves were threatening Nakano specifically. They were telling her to watch out for someone else, for the sake of a student, perhaps?

Nakano’s smile had faded and Goro was struck by the way her face suddenly showed her age. It was hard to tell when she was smiling, when she was animated, but her now sullen expression highlighted the bags under her eyes and the stress creasing her brow. Goro realized he hadn’t seen another employee once during their whole conversation… no wonder she was looking into hiring someone else. The stress from running a shop by herself, coupled with a threatening-sounding letter, must have been weighing heavily on her.

But, Goro thought, this letter definitely wasn’t a threat. In fact, it perfectly fit the Thieves’ previous patterns of communication, which Goro theorized could occur in at least three different ways. First was the fancy letterhead in a nondescript envelope, which was the type of letter Nakano-san had received. The second means of contact was the black-and-red card, the kind Madarame had shown Shido. If Goro had to hazard a guess, the letters were friendly, and the cards were for potential targets. Since Nakano had received a letter and not a card, she probably wasn't the target.

Lastly, Kitagawa had hinted that the Thieves had contacted him in some other way – over the phone, maybe? There were plenty of ways to make a phone number hard to trace… that didn’t seem to factor into Nakano’s situation, however. She was so upset that, had she received any anonymous phone calls, Goro thought she would have mentioned it by now.

“I don’t believe this will be the last letter you receive from them,” Goro said, “but I don’t think you have anything to fear from them. They aren’t a group prone to violence,” _as far as I know_ , he added mentally. “Nonetheless, if you would like, I’d be happy to arrange for an officer to monitor your storefront a little more closely for a few days?”

He had enough clout at the office to arrange for that, at least, and if it would offer an old woman peace of mind, it would be worth the effort. And, he added to himself, if there was someone watching the restaurant, Goro might be able to find out how the Thieves delivered their letters in the first place.

Nakano was so grateful for his help that she offered him a complementary sandwich, and that was why Goro found himself sitting at a little table near the window, waiting for his order. Shujin students had started to arrive now that school let out, so the restaurant was too loud for him and Nakano to have a private conversation – and besides, as the only employee, Nakano had customers to attend to.

Still, Goro thought he couldn’t turn down Nakano’s hospitality, even if he thought he’d rather be at home cooking for himself, or somewhere a little more personal, like Leblanc…

He laughed to himself. It hadn’t been hard to start working a few trips to Leblanc into his weekly schedule. Goro was a morning person and always had been, but detective work frequently kept him out well into the night. He’d starting drinking coffee just a few weeks after he got his first job; now it was a habit, and although he was perfectly content to make coffee for himself, there was something to be said for taking the time to go somewhere else for his afternoon caffeine boost.

It got him out of the office, forced him to take a break from his work, and it wasn't terrible to have a conversation or two while he was at it. He had gotten to know Sakura-san a little better after a few visits, and Kurusu, too. Even though the café was out of the way, and more than a little shabby, Goro thought he still would have preferred to eat there.

But maybe it wasn’t fair to compare this place to Leblanc, Goro thought when his sandwich finally arrived – they were completely different types of businesses. You wouldn’t go to a café expecting to get a filling sandwich, no more than you’d visit a sandwich shop for a cup of coffee. On the other hand, he thought, idly chewing a bite of sandwich, you wouldn’t expect a café to sell curry – _good_ curry, too – and yet Goro had found himself having a plate after work yesterday; Kurusu had insisted.

Comparatively, the sandwich was fine, just nothing surprising. Nothing wrong with that.

 

* * *

 

Once he finished his meal, Goro left the store and took an aimless walk down the road. Just outside Nakano’s shop, there was an open, grassy area where mixed clusters of Shujin students and locals were happily chatting away, eating snacks or just socializing. It was fairly crowded and bustling - an easy crowd to blend into. Goro dragged his eyes over the scene in front of him, about ready to head home... and stopped.

There was a pair of students sitting at a park bench a little farther away from the shops, and they wouldn’t have been worth mentioning at all had they not been wearing masks. Goro squinted and tried not to look too obvious. A boy and a girl, he thought, covered by the shade of a tall tree. The dappled light obscured their features, but he thought he didn’t recognize either of them as Joker; the masks didn't look the same, and neither of them had the right physical appearance, either. Only one of them was a boy, first of all, and while from a distance Goro couldn’t tell what his hair looked like, he recalled that Joker’s mask had been framed by curly black hair, something this new thief did not have.

They didn’t seem to be wearing disguises either, other than the masks. Goro thought that if he hadn’t been working this case, he might not have noticed the masks at all. They were acting so casual and nonchalant that it was easy to ignore their strange headgear completely.

Was this the meaning of “hiding in plain sight”?

As Goro watched them talk, a third person joined the pair: a dark-haired girl, wearing a simple gray mask. Three people, all wearing masks… it couldn’t be a coincidence. Goro felt a little ball of tension growing in his stomach.

He had to get closer.

He thought he could probably approach them from the side without being noticed; there were plenty of other people passing them by and they barely seemed to care. He carefully integrated himself into a little crowd of students that was walking in approximately the correct direction and followed them, like a school of fish, until he was able to drop himself off near the suspicious bench.

Goro stopped, far enough to avoid suspicion but close enough to hear them talk, and pulled out his phone. He opened up his e-mail for the sake of looking busy, and listened.

“Were you able to learn anything, Panther?” the dark-haired girl was asking.

The first girl sighed in response. “No, not really,” she said.

So they _were_ using nicknames, Goro thought, and hers was Panther. Appropriate, given the shape of her mask, and now that he thought back to it, Joker’s mask had looked a little like something a court jester would wear. They certainly had an aesthetic going for them.

“Where IS that guy, anyway?” the boy asked. “Man, he was the one who told us to meet here…” Abruptly, he pushed himself up onto his knees and started to look around. The movement was too sudden and too distracting, and Goro couldn’t stop himself from glancing up, even if he _knew_ he shouldn’t… and he made eye contact with the boy.

His eyes went wide behind his mask. “Woah! Hey, dude! What the hell?” he yelled, jumping to his feet and stumbling off the bench.

Both the girls were startled, more by the boy than by Goro it seemed. “Skull! Geez,” Panther said. 

“Don’t – this guy was listenin’ to us!” Skull retorted with a disgruntled huff.

Suddenly, all three of the Thieves were staring at Goro. He was put on the spot, and his mind immediately switched into damage control mode. “I apologize,” he said, smiling gently. “I didn’t mean to eavesdrop, I was simply distracted,” he said, holding up his phone as means of explanation. They seemed less than convinced. He looked over each person in turn, eyes lingering on their masks, trying to memorize the details, and he let his eyebrows rise in mild interest. “Your attire is... fascinating. What could you be doing?”

Collectively, their expressions softened, their anger replaced with confusion and a hidden touch of anxiety. Goro thought if they were bold enough to meet in public, he had to be bold enough to ask about it directly. The two girls exchanged glances behind Skull’s head.

“We’re, uh… shit,” Skull started to say. He craned his head around, shooting his companions a look over his shoulder. “What’d Oracle call it again?”

The girl wearing the slate-grey mask hesitated, sighed, and then answered: “LARPing.”

“Right, right!” Skull turned back to face Goro, his arms crossed triumphantly over his chest. He smiled a broad, toothy grin, and declared: “We’re LARPin’.”

Goro blinked slowly.

Skull continued, “And it’s totally legal, look it up.”

“I know what LARPing is,” Goro said through clenched teeth.

“For real?” Skull sounded surprised. He turned back to address the rest of the Thieves. “The hell, man. How come I’m the only one who hadn’t heard of it?”

His companions just shrugged. So, that was their angle – they were just dressing up for fun? Before Goro could press them any further, they were interrupted by the arrival of a fourth person.

"Hey, guys," the voice said, and Goro felt his stomach drop with a feeling of uncomfortable recognition. "What's going on?" Joker asked. He glanced at each of his friends in turn, until he noticed Goro. “Ah…” he nudged his way past the other Thieves and leaned forward, dipping perilously far into Goro’s personal space. “Hello again,” he said, “…Detective Goro Akechi.”

Goro went still. He was glad that he had at least managed to keep his face neutral, unlike the last time Joker had caught him off-guard – but this _had_ to stop. How did this guy keep appearing out of nowhere? And that smug expression on his face…

“Congratulations,” Goro finally said, his lip turning up into a tiny sneer, “You know my name. Are you proud?”

“I am,” Joker said brightly, rocking back on his heels.

The other Thieves seemed to snap out of their reverie. “Joker, you know this guy...?” Panther asked him.

“Yeah,” Joker replied. “He’s a detective investigating us.” He said this casually, like he was telling her what he’d had for dinner last night.

“Joker! Are you kidding me?” she exclaimed, whacking him lightly on the back of his head. “Dummy! Did you really let yourself get followed?”

Joker just shrugged. Panther and Skull started to lecture Joker, and Goro's attention drifted to the dark-haired girl, who had been notably quiet during their whole exchange. When Goro looked at her, she gave him a piercing, unblinking stare. Goro shivered involuntarily. That girl… was scary. Why wasn’t she the leader instead of Joker?

Tuning back in to the conversation, Goro realized the Thieves were getting ready to run. He cut into their conversation and quickly asked the first question that came to his mind: “What did you do to Kitagawa-san?”

This caught the group by surprise. “Do?” It was Skull who finally answered. He frowned. “We didn’t do anything. It just sorta happened.”

“Skull! Oh my god,” Panther groaned, taking him by the shoulders and roughly guiding him away. She looked over her shoulder at Goro. “Okay, well, it was really great to meet you, Akechi-kun, but we gotta go now.”

"Ow! Hey, I can walk on my own-!" Skull complained.

"Byeee!" Panther chirped, already several feet away.

The dark-haired girl looked slowly between Joker and Goro. Joker was watching Goro, and made no attempt to leave. "Joker?" she asked him.

Joker waved. "In a second. Don't worry."

She gave Joker the same kind of piercing stare that she had given Goro just a moment ago, but unlike Goro, Joker seemed completely unfazed. "Don't dawdle," she said, then turned sharply and left to follow Panther and Skull.

“Don’t worry,” Joker stage-whispered to Goro after the others were out of earshot, “they’re just shy.”

“I wasn’t worried,” Goro huffed. Now that they were alone, Goro took a moment to look Joker over. He was wearing the same mask as before, but instead of the strange get-up he had worn during their last meeting, he was wearing a Shujin uniform. Was it because he really was a Shujin student, or had he stolen one to look the part…? It was impossible to tell.

"You're pretty good, you know,” Joker said, and he sounded like he meant it. “We're gonna have to find another meeting place."

" _This_ was your meeting place. Really?" Goro asked. He didn’t know why, but Joker’s nonchalance was really starting to piss him off. "What you’re doing is serious. You know that, right? For you to meet up so publicly... you must be a fool.”

For a moment, Joker didn’t react; he simply stood still, his hands in his pockets, watching Goro with a blank expression. "Well," he finally said, drawing out the syllable, "I'm definitely a fool, but that doesn't mean I'm not being serious. And," he took a quick, swishy step forward, "I think you already know that."

 _Too close_ , Goro thought, but he was done conceding anything to Joker - space or arguments.

"I mean, if you didn't think I was a serious threat, you wouldn't be trying so hard to find me, would you?" Joker asked. He gave Goro a sly grin. "Unless you have an ulterior motive?"

Goro scowled, but he could try to unpack _that_ statement some other time. "Awfully presumptuous of you to assume _you're_ the one I find threatening," he said, "when your friend with the gray mask is around."

That made Joker laugh. "Queen," Joker said, nodding. "Well, I'll give you that one. She's definitely scary."

Goro felt the tension in the air lift, just a little. "What _did_ you do to Kitagawa-san?" he asked again.

"You heard Skull," Joker replied, rolling his shoulder in a half-shrug. "We didn't do anything. Nothing beyond what we usually do, anyway. Showed him some secrets Madarame had. Everything else was all on Yusuke."

"How do you know people even want your help?" Goro asked.

"Most of them don't," Joker replied. "Still, it's important to us. To me. So we'll keep doing it."

A strange answer, and one Goro hadn't expected. He had thought Joker was the kind of person to do things for the celebrity of it all... maybe he was wrong about that.

“Hey… you wanna hear something weird?” Joker asked suddenly. “Most people don’t even notice the masks. I wonder why that is?”

It took Goro a second to realize that it wasn’t a rhetorical question; Joker was really waiting for an answer. “I… I couldn’t hope to guess,” Goro said.

“Hmm,” Joker brought his hand to his chin thoughtfully. “Some detective you are, huh?” Goro must have made a face, because Joker started laughing again. "Ah, forget it. I guess I’ll see you around, Detective Akechi.” Then, with a little glint in his eyes, he added, “not here, though. I wonder when you’ll find us again?"

Joker spun around and walked away, waving at Goro without looking back. Goro tried his best to follow him, but Joker was adept at moving through crowds, and Goro lost him in a group of other Shujin students. The uniform was a perfect disguise – all Joker had to do was discretely remove his mask, and he disappeared completely. Goro grit his teeth and held back a frustrated sigh.

Some detective he was.

 

* * *

 

After that last encounter, Goro decided to expedite his observation of Shujin. He sent Kobayakawa a message through his work e-mail, and not a day later he was invited to the school to receive a key, with the condition that he return it after his observation was complete. Unwilling to waste any more time, Goro decided he would stake out the school the following Sunday.

He woke up early, earlier than he probably needed to, but he didn't want to risk missing anyone. The air was chilly and still, and the school was eerily silent as he let himself in and made his way to the second floor. There was a little console in the secretary’s office that monitored the scant few cameras that Shujin had: one for every entrance to the school, and one in front of the main office, and that was it.

Goro settled himself in the secretary’s chair and watched the cameras run. They were blank and boring – he realized too late that he should have brought some coffee. He lost track of time. No one bothered to approach the school; the camera picked up a few people passing by the front, but no one made to approach the front gate.

He was just starting to think that maybe the Thieves knew about his intentions and had decided to skip emptying their box this Sunday, when the camera caught someone approaching the back entrance to the school. Goro leaned forward. The quality was fuzzy, so it was hard to tell what kind of a person it was… and then Goro blinked, and the person was gone.

What? Goro glanced across the screens, but they were all blank. Hadn’t he seen someone? Surely he wasn’t so tired that he hallucinated seeing someone. But the camera was perfectly blank… and perfectly still. Almost like it was a static image instead of a video feed…

Goro waited a few agonizingly long seconds. How long would it take someone to reach the front office from the back entrance? They weren’t very far apart. Carefully, he stepped out of the secretary’s office and made his way downstairs.

When he reached the base of the stairwell, he stopped. Was that the sound of footsteps? Goro held his breath. Yes, it was definitely footsteps, but whoever it was had a very quiet tread. Were they sneaking around? Or did they just have a soft step?

Goro tentatively stepped onto the floor and peered around the corner. He could just see the front office from here – and someone was there. One student, a girl, standing in front of the Phantom Thieves' box. She was wearing a Shujin uniform, despite it being a Sunday... and from her profile alone, Goro thought he recognized her. Before he could stop himself, he took a step forward, and called out to her.

“Niijima-chan…?”

Makoto yelped, leaping back from the box and pressing herself snug against the wall, protecting her back. Her eyes darted around frantically until they landed on Goro.

“A-Akechi-kun?” she stammered, bewildered. She pressed a hand to her chest, and took a deep breath. “I… I think you nearly killed me,” she said, with a nervous laugh.

Goro approached her. “I’m terribly sorry,” he said, and he really was. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”

Makoto shook her head. “It’s fine. It’s just… what – why are _you_ here?” she managed to ask.

“I – I requested permission to enter the school, for investigative purposes. Your principal gave me permission,” he explained. Makoto didn’t show any reaction, but Goro thought she stiffened up a little bit.

Yes… now that the shock had worn off, he was struck with a thought. He had come here expecting to find a Phantom Thief, or their co-conspirator, and the person he found was Makoto Niijima?

There was a long, heavy silence.

“Niijima-chan…” Goro said, “what are YOU doing here?”

Makoto closed her eyes and didn’t reply. Then she turned towards the box again and retrieved a key from her pocket. She fit it into the lock and carefully pulled the container out.

“Well… come on,” she said at last. “Help me sort through this, and I’ll explain myself." Without waiting for a reply, she started to leave.

Goro followed.

She led him all the way to the student council room. She sat down at the same table where they had first met, holding the box up and turning it upside down, dumping its contents onto the desk. “The truth is, the person who installed that box was me,” she admitted. She looked up at Goro with a pained expression on her face. “This might surprise you… or maybe not, but I… have some trouble connecting to the student body.”

Goro took a seat across from Makoto.

“It’s difficult to do your job when no one feels comfortable coming to you with their problems,” she continued. She picked up a piece of paper from the pile and read it. Then she crushed it in her fist and discarded it into a trash bin beneath the table. “So when the Phantom Thieves rumors started to pick up… the students were in love with them. I thought I could use their name to my advantage.”

She looked over at the now-empty container. “I had a friend make the box for me, and I secretly installed it one weekend. Then, I started the rumor that it was a request box from the Phantom Thieves.”

“It was you?” Goro asked.

Makoto just nodded. “Now I come in on the weekends and empty out the box. As you can see,” she gestured towards the pile, “it gets a lot of garbage.”

Goro picked up a crumpled sheet of paper and unfolded it. It was someone’s quiz, on which they had done very poorly. He showed it to Makoto, who took it from him and threw it away.

“And of course, there are plenty of jokes,” she said, holding out another paper scrap, on which someone had drawn a crude picture of a dick. She rolled her eyes and threw it away. “But sometimes, I get something worth looking into,” she said.

She took a moment to sift through the papers, finally finding what she was looking for. She handed an index card to Goro. It read:

“it sucks how much mr. hiruta plays favorites. just because i won’t suck up to him, he grades me more harshly. and the principal doesn’t even care. its bullshit.”

It wasn’t signed.

“This is something I can look into,” Makoto explained. “I can ask one of my student council members to attend some of Mr. Hiruta’s classes, and if this seems to be true, I have ways I can put a stop to it. People will think it was the Phantom Thieves who made him have a change of heart, but…” she closed her eyes and smiled, just a little. “I don’t mind not taking the credit, as long as things change for the better.”

“I… I see,” Goro said at last. “You’ve put a lot of thought into this, haven’t you?”

“I suppose I have,” Makoto agreed. They sat quietly like that for a while, each sorting through pieces of paper, separating the junk from the useful messages. With two people, it was an easy task, and even though Goro was constantly checking in with Makoto before he decided if a note was real or trash, they managed to finish quickly.

“I’m sorry for lying to you, Akechi-kun,” Makoto said, as she tucked the little stack of papers away in her backpack and discarded the remaining pieces of trash. “I was afraid that if the truth got out, I’d…”

“No, I understand,” Goro said. “If people knew it was you reading their messages, your plan wouldn’t work.”

“That’s right,” Makoto nodded. She stood up, taking the empty box with her. “I _was_ telling the truth about my opinion on the Thieves, though,” she added. “I really don’t think they exist. If they did, I… I don’t think I’d want to risk making them angry by using their name.”

 Goro laughed. “I understand that sentiment, as well,” he said. “But… forgive me if I’m not 100% convinced that they don’t exist, Niijima-chan.”

“I wouldn’t expect anything less from a detective such as you,” she replied.

Together, they returned to the main office, and Goro watched as Makoto locked the box back into place. He decided to return his Shujin key directly to Makoto, who assured him she would return it to Principal Kobayakawa. She locked up the school behind them, and they parted ways.

Goro walked a block away from the school and found a place to sit down. He was struggling to decide whether or not he believed Makoto’s story. It was certainly plausible… but he didn’t know much about Makoto. She had been elected student council president, after all, so surely the students had to trust her a little bit? Maybe he should ask Sae-san for confirmation about Makoto’s social awkwardness, he thought. It wouldn’t necessarily prove her innocence, but it could lend credence to her story.

Goro sighed. He felt a sharp hunger pang. In the end, he had spent around four and a half hours at Shujin. This was ridiculous… he needed something to eat, and some time to think.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for being patient with me, everyone! Next week we'll be back to updating on Mondays, so you can look forward to that. :3 I hope you all had a lovely start to your new year~ thank you for all your support!


	5. Chapter 5

For one reason or another, nearly a week passed before Goro had time to speak with Sae. They worked far enough apart, in terms of literal distance between their desks, that when one of them got swamped with work, they could disappear for a while. Though they had passed each other in the hall once or twice, it was never long enough for Goro to feel comfortable starting a conversation.

Goro was working late one day, still at his desk after the office’s business hours were officially over, when Sae came over to say hello. They exchanged pleasantries, Goro slipping into his affected persona so easily and effortlessly that he nearly forgot he actually had something to discuss with her.

“Oh, Sae-san,” he said, before their conversation had a chance to lapse, “Did I mention that I met your sister?”

“What, Makoto?” Sae asked, her eyes wide with surprise. “I mean, no, you didn’t. Why did – when was this?”

“Last week,” Goro said. “I was at Shujin for business; I didn’t know she was their student council president.”

"Oh... yes," Sae said, nodding and smiling. "She's quite a hard worker when it comes to school and her extra-curriculars." She sounded happy, but the way her eyes briefly dropped to the ground made it obvious that Goro had brought up a touchy subject, somehow. He wondered if it would be rude to try to probe her for information when she seemed upset.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to misspeak?” he half-asked.

Sae shook her head. “No, no – I’m glad,” she said. “It just struck me that… you may have spoken more to my sister than I have. At least, recently.”

“I see,” Goro said. He leaned forward on his desk, closer to Sae. “Is this a new development?”

“I wish I could say it was,” Sae said, “but if I’m being honest, she’s been… we’ve been growing apart for some time. It’s gotten worse lately, however.” She laughed softly. “I’m sorry; you didn’t ask to hear about my family troubles. I hope Makoto was helpful to you.”

“It’s fine,” Goro said. He decided that was enough for now; he didn't want Sae to know he found Makoto suspicious, and besides, based on her comments, it seemed like Makoto wasn't telling Sae any of her secrets. “I’m glad that you felt you could confide in me, Sae-san," he said.

Sae didn’t seem to know how to respond to that. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “At any rate,” she said, clearing her throat, “you seem busy, Akechi-kun. Are you staying late today?”

Goro nodded. Because he hadn’t made any tangible progress making a case against the Phantom Thieves, the higher-ups were giving him plenty of busywork again, much of which had a fast-approaching deadline. Rather than bring the work home, or leave it until tomorrow, Goro decided to hunker down and plow through it in one sitting.

With that, Sae left him to his work, and Goro was the only person left in the office. It wasn’t the first time this had happened; Goro found he worked better without coworkers around to distract him, and the office door locked automatically once it closed, so he never had to worry about locking up. Later tonight a cleaning crew would come by, but Goro hoped his work would only take another hour or so.

It was a little eerie, being along in an office building after closing. Seeing a place that was usually filled with people become completely empty was certainly strange, almost unnaturally quiet. The sun hadn’t set yet, but it was low in the sky, casting long shadows down the road, and most of his coworkers had turned their lights out when they left, leaving the office looking gloomy.

In silence, Goro continued to fill out documents. He was just beginning to get into a rhythm when he thought he heard something, a heavy clicking noise, like a door closing.

He looked up.

From his desk, he could just see the front door. It was closed now, and he hadn’t heard it open, and there was no one in the hallway.

Goro sighed. Sometimes, buildings just made noises. He thought he had become used to it by now, to the occasional creak of the floor or whine of the air conditioning when it turned on. Still, there was something about being alone that magnified those sounds. He tried to ignore it, and went back to his papers…

Until he heard the copy machine.

Goro sat close to the room where they kept the copier. It was an old beast, and plenty loud, so there was no mistaking the sound, but Goro was _certain_ he was the only person in the office, and he was pretty sure their copier couldn’t be accessed remotely.

In all likelihood, Goro had just missed one of his coworkers staying late, or a janitor had come early and was… making copies, for some reason, or hell, maybe the copy machine just decided to turn on by itself. Goro thought up every possible rationalization he could and repeated them mentally as he got out of his seat and crept over to the copy room, peering around the doorjamb.

They were all perfectly good explanations, but none of them true, because when he looked into the room someone was there, standing beside the copier, a pair of folders in hand. Goro felt his nerves get the better of him, his heartbeat picking up, because he definitely did NOT recognize the person in front of him.

Then the intruder turned just slightly and Goro got a good look at his profile, and saw that _goddamn mask_.

Goro stepped into the door frame and slammed a fist against the wall. “Joker,” he called out, and… that was all. He couldn’t gather the words to make an accusation, or even ask a question.

Joker looked up. It was hard to tell – he didn’t flinch at all when Goro spoke – but he seemed surprised to see someone. Once he recognized Goro, however, he broke out into a smile. “Akechi-kun. Fancy meeting you here,” he said.

Whatever he was copying had finished, and the machine grew quiet. Joker gathered up his copies and returned the originals to their folder, and then fed the next set of papers to the machine. He leaned against the copier and looked at Goro, smiling pleasantly.

This would be a good time for his jaw to drop, Goro thought. He kept his mouth shut, though, but it took his a few good seconds before he was able to string words together.

“You’re on camera,” he finally pointed out. Indeed, there was a little camera in the back corner of the room, and while it was clearly set up to capture footage of the door, it could see the entire room just fine. Joker would definitely have been caught when he came in. “You know that, right? It doesn’t seem like something you’d overlook.”

“Of course!” Joker replied cheerfully. “Though, the only person watching right now is a friend of mine, so I’m not too concerned.”

Goro stared. “You’re bluffing,” he said. There was just no way. How could he have so thoroughly broken past their security?

Joker looked up at the camera and waved at it. “Nah. C’mon, Akechi-kun – say hi to Oracle.”

“I’m not – ugh,” Goro grumbled, pulling out his phone. “I’m calling the police.”

“Go ahead,” Joker replied, waving his hand at Goro distractedly.

That made Goro take pause. Joker’s complete nonchalance wasn’t exactly unexpected, given what Goro knew of his personality, but this was different. Before they had met in public, somewhere they were both allowed to be, but now Joker was trespassing and obviously wasn't allowed to be making those copies... so his casual air was suspicious. Goro looked at his phone, and frowned. Strange; he had no internet connection, and no cell service. He tried to dial the police anyway, but it was useless – it wouldn’t even ring.

“You’re jamming my phone,” Goro stated. Joker didn’t look up, but Goro saw him smile.

“You need to take me a little more seriously, Akechi-kun,” Joker said.

Goro tried to piece together a timeline. Okay, so maybe Joker – unmasked – had snuck into the office earlier in the day, posing as a victim of a crime? Or something, someone who would have a reason to speak with a prosecutor. It wasn’t an uncommon occurrence for strangers to walk into the office. Then what? He must know someone who was talented with computers, and Goro had to admit that he didn’t exactly know what their security measures looked like, so maybe it wasn't hard to tap into the camera system...

Still, it was gutsy, Goro thought, to sneak into the prosecutor’s office, especially when there was a police station right next door. It wouldn’t take him more than two minutes to get over there, but Goro knew that the second he let Joker out of his sight, Joker would bolt. He was wearing gloves, too, and they seemed like nice ones, the kind that wouldn’t leave any fingerprints.

(Not that it would matter if Joker’s real identity had never committed a crime; they wouldn’t have any data to compare with the prints. But still, it would have been evidence.)

Joker sighed heavily through his nose, and Goro snapped back to the present. It seemed that Joker’s copies had finished, and he had neatly put the originals back in their folders. The copies were nowhere to be found, but Goro thought he could see a little bag hiding beneath Joker’s coat. He must have put them away while Goro was thinking.

Now he was leaning against the wall in front of the machine, watching Goro.

“Do you think it’s a crime to steal information, Akechi?” he asked.

Goro blinked. What, they were going to talk philosophy now?

“Personal information needs to be kept safe,” Goro said after a long pause. “If anyone could find out where another person lived, they could do a lot of damage to someone they didn’t like.”

Joker shook his head. “No, I agree. But I’m not talking about someone’s address or bank account number or something. I mean things like…” He waved his hand in the air, “the details about court cases. Crime reports. Even textbooks cost money. If you can’t afford a $60 book every time you want to learn something new, is it wrong to attain the information illegally?”

Goro knew he shouldn’t be entertaining this Thief’s conversation… but he raised an interesting point. “I think barriers to education are harmful,” Goro admitted, “but… I still think it’s dangerous for anyone to have access to things like court cases or crime reports. If someone had malicious intent, it could be used to manipulate people’s opinions towards their own goals.”

Joker hummed thoughtfully.

“But,” Goro continued, steeling his voice, “it doesn’t matter what I think. It is a crime to take those files. I can’t… you can’t leave with them.”

Joker clicked his tongue. “Do you think you can stop me?” he finally asked.

Goro froze in place. He hadn’t had a reason to really _look_ at Joker before, and even when he did, he was more focused on trying to find identifying features – age, hair color, that stupid mask. But now there was no one and nothing else to be seen, and Goro could really take in the full picture of the leader of the Phantom Thieves.

He wasn’t anything extraordinary, but he had a solid stature, and although the long, flowing jacket did hide his physique from behind, his clothes were fitted, and from the front it was easy to see a hint of muscle hiding beneath the fabric. But beyond physical features, Joker had an aura of confidence about him that made him seem almost unreal…

Joker was _strong_.

Goro wasn’t sure how he hadn’t noticed it before.

Nonetheless, Goro found himself standing in the doorway, blocking the way. Mentally, he was cursing himself for not having any sort of weapon on his person – not even a pair of handcuffs. Arresting someone just wasn’t something he usually had to do.

Joker started to move, and Goro braced his hand against the doorjamb and planted his feet on the ground. He would just have to become an immovable object. Maybe he could stall Joker long enough that the cleaning crew would arrive, and they could go for help.

That was unlikely, though, because Joker was advancing on Goro and did not slow down until they were barely a foot apart, face-to-face.

“You know,” Joker said, “I know you don’t think much of me. But it feels like you still put a lot of thought into our conversations.” This close, it was easy to see Joker’s eyes shining brightly, and his lips curled upward in a small, soft smile.

“I like that about you.”

Joker tugged the glove off of his free hand and reached out, caressing Goro’s cheek. Goro flinched at the touch, but he didn’t move – he _couldn’t_ move, because he was the only thing keeping Joker from escaping – and he shivered; Joker’s hand was surprisingly cool, and it made Goro acutely aware of how hot his face had become.

He sort of expected the kiss that followed, because there weren’t many other reasons to touch someone’s face so gently, or to get so close to someone, but he wasn’t expecting Joker’s lips to feel so soft, or for his own eyes to flutter closed involuntarily.

It caught him by surprise, Goro told himself later. He was surprised, and that’s why his arms fell, why he leaned into the kiss instead of pushing Joker away, why he didn’t notice when Joker took Goro by the arm and carefully shifted their positions until Joker had passed through the doorway.

Joker pulled back and Goro felt his senses return, his eyes snapping open. Joker hummed quietly. “Hmm… Did I steal your first kiss?” he asked, a wicked grin on his face. “Lucky me.”

“Stop!” Goro yelled, lunging towards Joker, but it was too late; the thief stepped back, deposited the original files on the closest desk, and then made a dash for the door. Goro stumbled after his for a few feet, then stopped and watched helplessly as Joker disappeared into the growing twilight.

 _Damn it…_ Goro thought, squeezing his eyes shut in frustration. He walked over to the files Joker had left and popped them open. They were full of old reports, dated about six months back, but there were multiple case files in each folder, making it impossible to tell which ones Joker had copied. Still, he tucked the files away in his desk drawer and locked it up tight. He could comb through it tomorrow, see if Joker had left any hints behind.

Thoroughly rattled and in no mood to finish paperwork, Goro packed up his things and left the office for the night. On his way out, he gave the office door a firm tug, but it was locked up securely. He frowned. He’d have to talk to someone about potential gaps in office security.

Goro took the train home. Standing in the middle of the aisle, holding tight to a hand rail and swaying gently with the turns, Goro felt fuzzy. As he replayed the encounter in his mind, he felt something electric prickling under his skin and it made him sick.

All of that, and he still got away.

 _Ah…_ a flash of realization hit him. To get away, that’s why Joker had done it. If he had scuffled with Goro, something could have happened – a visible mark on Goro’s skin, or maybe something would have broken. That would have ruined all the planning Joker did to ensure it looked like he had never been there in the first place. The files could be explained away by claiming a lazy employee didn’t feel like re-shelving their notes, and without any video footage…

_“I like that about you.”_

If Joker just needed a distraction, why did he sound so fond when he said that?

Argh! Goro balled up his hand into a fist. He was over-thinking it.

This was probably exactly what Joker wanted.

 

* * *

 

Goro stopped by the police office before work the next day and made a report. He managed to convince security to help him review last night’s video footage, and unsurprisingly (to Goro) they found nothing.

“I didn’t think you were the type to cry wolf,” Shido had said when Goro explained the situation to him.

 _If you listened to a word I said,_ Goro thought, but of course, Shido wouldn’t.

 

* * *

 

As soon as he could, Goro left work, and his feet took him to Leblanc without his brain ever making a conscious choice. He couldn’t stand to be at the office and he didn’t want to go home, so he made a trip to the café, in hopes it would help clear his mind – or at least distract him for a little while.

Once he stepped inside, Goro noticed two things. First was the smell. The cafe always smelled of coffee, obviously, sometimes mixed with curry spice, but today the air smelled sweet and rich – more like a bakery than a coffee shop. Second, there were only two other people in the shop. One was Kurusu, and the other was a girl with bright red hair, someone Goro didn’t know. She was sitting on a barstool with her arms flopped out over the counter in front of Kurusu.

“Eh? A customer?” When the door closed, a bell chimed, and the girl perked up from her spot on the counter, eyes wide with… apprehension? It was hard to tell. But once she got a good look at Goro, she relaxed and returned to her slouched position. “Oh, it’s just Akechi-kun,” she said.

Goro felt a pang of panic. She knew him? He didn’t recognize this girl even a little – had they met somewhere and he had simply forgotten?

“I apologize,” he said, approaching the bar. “Have… have we met?”

Her eyebrows shot up and she immediately shrunk back. She glanced at Kurusu, back to Goro, and then finally dropped her gaze to the counter.

“…saw you on TV once,” she mumbled. She was suddenly very interested in tracing the wood grain with her finger.

“And,” Kurusu supplied after a long, awkward second, “You’ve probably seen him around here before. Right?”

The girl’s eyebrows wrinkled beneath her glasses. “Um…” She studied Goro’s face, tilting her head to the side, and then her eyes lit up. “Oh! Yeah. Yes. That’s right. I – Sojiro…”

“She lives with Boss,” Kurusu said.

Goro smiled and felt a little less guilty. “Oh, I see. Well, I’m sorry I don’t remember you, then. I’m afraid I tend to be a bit self-absorbed with my work when I’m here.” He sat down, leaving one seat in between himself and the girl. “Could we introduce ourselves?” he asked. “Or, well, I guess you already know me…”

“I’m Futaba,” she said, short and curt. Still a little shy, it would seem.

"Good to meet you, then, Futaba-chan,” Goro said. She didn’t seem interested in continuing that conversation, so Goro deigned to change the subject. “It smells wonderful in here,” he commented. “What are you making?"

"Cake," Kurusu and Futaba replied simultaneously. Futaba laughed. Kurusu's cheeks flushed and he pushed his glasses further up the bridge of his nose. "Friday evenings are usually slow," he explained, "so Boss leaves me in charge. And since no one ever comes in, I get bored, and–"

"and we experiment with the menu," Futaba finished, grinning impishly.

"How devious," Goro quipped, which got him a snort-laugh from Futaba, at least.

"'Kira, how long until it's done, anyway?" Futaba asked.

"It has to cool," Kurusu said, "or the frosting will melt."

"Well, stick it in the freezer, then," she said, and Goro couldn't help the small laugh that escaped him.

Kurusu smiled, too. "Let me serve Akechi," he said.

"Fine..." Futaba said, rolling her shoulders with an over-dramatic sigh.

Goro didn’t even have to order his coffee, Kurusu simply started brewing. Confident his drink was in good hands, Goro pulled out a book, not particularly interested in working on cases this afternoon. It would be nice to just read for fun today. He barely even looked up when Kurusu brought him his coffee, and then he could hear Kurusu and Futaba start to chat (about frosting, he thought he heard - Kurusu must be working on the cake), but he didn’t pay them any mind; he was too relaxed to be bothered by it.

Leblanc was always exactly the right temperature, Goro decided. That's why it was easy to relax here. He settled so comfortably into his chair, pouring over his book and drinking his coffee, that he very nearly jumped when a plate appeared in his peripheral vision, set down on the counter with a soft clack. There was a slice of cake on the plate, courtesy of Kurusu, and, Goro glanced to his side, Futaba had gotten a matching piece for herself. She thanked Kurusu and immediately dug into her slice, stuffing a forkful in her mouth and sighing contentedly.

"You don't have to have any," Kurusu said, "I'm just looking for feedback. I know Futaba's going to like it, so... an unbiased opinion would be nice."

Goro smiled. "I'd be happy to try it; thank you." He set down his book and pulled the plate closer to himself, taking his fork and slicing into the cake. It was a little messy, but Goro thought looks didn’t matter much when it came to the flavor. He took a bite. It was a chocolate cake with chestnut puree buried in between the layers, with an excellent consistency, fluffy and smooth, but it was definitely a dessert cake – almost too sweet.

“It’s obviously been made with a great deal of care and skill,” Goro said, after thoughtfully chewing on a bite. "I’m afraid, thought, for my tastes… it’s a bit on the sweet side.”

Kurusu nodded, his arms crossed over his chest. “I was worried about that…” he said.

“But,” Goro added quickly, “I think it would pair well with a nice, bitter coffee, so doesn’t that make it perfect to serve at a place like Leblanc?”

Goro swallowed. Why did he say that? He didn’t need to reassure Kurusu – his critique was perfectly valid, and Kurusu even seemed to agree with him. It wasn't like he was being rude for no reason. But still, somehow, he wanted to lighten Kurusu's mood, to thank him for letting Goro take comfort at Leblanc so frequently.

"Maybe you're right," Kurusu said with a smile, and Goro felt light and warm.

"Well," Futaba interjected, her slice already half-finished, "I think it's perfect."

"You see what I mean?" Kurusu lowered his voice to a whisper, and Futaba shot them an indignant look. Goro had to stifle a laugh.

 

* * *

 

It was easy to put the stolen files out of his mind, Goro realized, if not the _rest_ of the encounter. He had flipped through the pages idly one afternoon, but nothing stood out - there were a dozen profiles of criminals in each folder, and nothing looked out of place. So they sat in his desk, gathering dust, waiting for Goro to find the right piece of information to make them useful.

That information came one evening, after Goro had already retired to his apartment for the evening. It wasn't late, but he was already feeling sleepy, lulling into a post-dinner haze, when his phone rang, startling him. He rarely got calls outside of work hours, so he had to take a second to compose himself before answering.

"Hello? Is this Detective Akechi?" a soft, female voice asked.

Goro thought he recognized it. "It is. Is this Nakano-san?"

"Yes," she said, breathing a sigh of relief. "I was hoping you could come to the restaurant. I received another letter - a package - I don't want to talk about over the phone..."

"Is it from the - the same sender as before?" Goro asked.

"Yes, I believe so," Nakano said.

Goro was already standing up. "Is now a good time? I can be there in -" he paused to mentally calculate the distance between his apartment and Nakano's restaurant, "maybe half an hour?"

"Yes, please. I've closed the restaurant for the evening, so it's fine," Nakano said.

Closed the restaurant? That seemed a bit extreme. Could something have happened? Nakano sounded fairly calm, but it was hard to tell over the phone... After saying a quick goodbye, Goro threw on his shoes and left his apartment.

When he arrived, Nakano was sitting at one of the tables in the middle of the restaurant, waiting for Goro. She jumped to her feet when he came inside, rushing over to him and pressing a small stack of papers into his hands.

"Here," she said, as Goro fumbled with the papers. "This is what they gave me. I got it this afternoon; it just showed up on my desk in the break room, I don't know how..."

She trailed off, and Goro took a look at what she had given him. He recognized it instantly; he had seen dozens just like it. This was it - this was what Joker had been copying: the criminal record of a man named Shigeru Ikeda, age 53. He had been arrested six months ago on domestic violence charges against his wife and eldest child, though he wasn't detained for any significant period of time. A largely civil matter, but the details of his violence against his family were recorded in great details on the pages. Goro didn't recognize the name specifically, but he knew that if he opened up the folder in his desk, the original copy of Ikeda's record would be there.

"I was interviewing this man," Nakano said. "And I was going to hire him. Is this what those Thieves meant in their first letter? I had no idea Ikeda-san had a criminal record..." she said, in obvious distress.

"I have no doubt this is what their first letter was referring to, yes," Goro said. "The Thieves seem especially protective of students at Shujin Academy... if I had to wager a guess, Ikeda-san has a child who attends the school."

Nakano gasped when the realization hit. "You think... they eat here?"

"That seems to be what the Thieves are worried about," Goro said. "About exposing a victim to their abuser."

"I had no idea..." Nakano repeated softly to herself.

Goro set the file back down on the table, taking a picture of it for posterity's sake. "What will you do, Nakano-san? Are you planning on hiring Ikeda anyway?"

"No! Heavens, no," she exclaimed. "I have other candidates - I'll just, I'll tell him he wasn't a good fit. Maybe I just won't call him back at all..."

Goro nodded, and vaguely he heard Nakano continue to comment about the situation to herself, but he was distracted by a small voice in the back of his mind, reminding him of something... _i_ _f the student put a note about their father into the request box at Shujin, and now the Thieves were pursuing Ikeda..._  That would implicate Makoto Niijima.

He was _definitely_ going to have a chat with Sae about that the next time he saw her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading, everyone! Your support means the world to me. ^_^


	6. Chapter 6

“He was in your office?” Hifumi exclaimed. “That’s insane.”

Goro had to hold back a laugh, hearing her so surprised. He had gone so far down this Phantom Thief rabbit hole that he was starting to lose his sense of normalcy, and to that end, he knew that this was information he shouldn’t be sharing with someone like Hifumi. Rather, it was information that needed sharing, but only with his immediate supervisors at the prosecutor’s office, and possible the police department… but he had already tried both of those routes.

The memory of that day was eating away at him, though, because it seemed like now it _only_ existed in his memory, with no video evidence of the break-in and no supervisors to back him up.

He could only ruminate on Joker’s motivations for so long before he started thinking in circles, and so, sitting in the church that evening, Goro found himself spilling detail after detail about his case to Hifumi. Nothing confidential, of course, just the broad strokes, but Shido and company had been so dismissive of his concerns… and really, it was always best to get a second opinion on a case like this…

So, when Hifumi asked him how he was, Goro told her.

He had given her periodic updates on the case up until now, but never anything so detailed, and before he was even halfway through his tale, Hifumi was shaking her head in disbelief. One of Hifumi’s best qualities, though, was her patience; even when Goro was so wrapped up in his story that he forgot to take his turn, she sat with her hands clasped in front of her, listening with rapt attention.

“How did he get past your security?” Hifumi asked, while Goro moved a pawn without so much as glancing at the board.

“I really don’t know,” Goro said. “There’s something about him – all of them, really – that makes them… hard to spot. They blend into a crowd.” He sighed, and finally admitted something he had been theorizing for days now: “To be honest, I think he probably walked right through the front door.”

“Really? Isn’t that… concerning?” she asked.

Goro shrugged. The higher-ups certainly hadn’t thought so.

Hifumi snapped a bishop down on the Shogi board and captured one of Goro’s pawns. She looked back up at him with a sympathetic half-smile – about the capture or about Goro’s story, he wasn’t sure. “Well,” she said, “do you know why he broke in, at least?”

“He just…” Goro waved his hand vaguely in the air, “made copies of a few criminal reports.” This significance of this was clearly lost on Hifumi, who didn’t so much as blink at his words. “ _Copies_ ,” Goro emphasized. It almost left a bitter taste in his mouth to say it. “What kind of a thief… he could have taken the whole report. The originals. Going through the effort of making copies, when he surely knew the machine would make a noise…”

“But taking the originals would leave a paper trail,” Hifumi said. “Um, that is… if he took the originals, someone would eventually notice their absence, right?”

That was something Goro had considered, too. “I actually don’t think so,” he said. “At least not immediately. We wouldn’t have any reason to look up a random case file unless a new report was made. It’s possible that his theft would have gone unnoticed for weeks, even months.”

Hifumi hummed and nodded. “What was so important about those files that he had to take them?” she asked.

Had it really been so long since he’d seen Hifumi, Goro wondered? It must have been; since their last game of Shogi, the whole affair with Nakano and Ikeda had come and gone. Goro quickly recapped the situation to her, skipping over the less important details. By the end of it all, Goro was happy to hear, Nakano never hired Ikeda, and since then, Goro hadn’t heard a word from her or Ikeda – the situation had simply and quietly resolved itself.

“The worst thing,” Goro said, “is that even when he was right in front of me, I wasn’t able to detain him.” A hot wave of embarrassment washed over him; the memory of Joker’s _escape_ was still as fresh as the day it had happened.

“It’s okay. I know you tried your best,” Hifumi said, her voice soft and soothing. If anyone else had tried to tell him something so trite, Goro would have thought they were lying to him, but from Hifumi, the sentiment seemed genuine. “It must be difficult to accomplish anything when your coworkers disregard your concerns.”

“It’s nothing new,” Goro said, with a half-hearted laugh.

“I wonder…” Hifumi was distracted now, and from the tone of her voice, it sounded like she was musing to herself more than speaking to Goro. “Without proof of their crimes, it would be difficult to pursue them from a legal standpoint. Barring that, they would need external motivation, but…”

She trailed off. Goro looked at her expectantly.

“I mean,” Hifumi shifted uncomfortably in place, “just based on what you’ve told me, I… I suppose they haven’t really done anything morally objectionable, have they?”

There it was: the thought that had been lurking in the back of Goro’s mind, at last brought to light by Hifumi. Sure, he was furious that Joker had managed to steal confidential documents (right from under his nose, to add insult to injury), and he _was_ legitimately concerned that, if left unchecked, the Phantom Thieves would abuse their lawless freedom, but…

Firing an abusive teacher, telling off someone’s crappy boyfriend, even warning an employer about a new employee’s violent background… Goro had to admit, he didn’t find any of those things morally wrong.

“I don’t know,” he finally said, letting out a long breath. “It depends on whether you think the ends can justify the means, I suppose.”

Hifumi was silent, contemplating his implicit question. “I guess…” she began, “it’s like when we’re playing Shogi. Every move I make is towards the goal of winning, so it doesn’t really matter how I get there, as long as I win,” she explained. “However... if I act recklessly, I might end up putting myself in a bad position, or even losing. So I don’t think it’s right to say that how you get there is pointless, either.

“But I guess that’s not really an appropriate comparison, is it?” Hifumi added, after a moment’s pause. “I’m still playing by the rules. What you’re talking about would be more like cheating in order to win, right?”

She smiled sheepishly, and Goro smiled along with her. “Yes, I suppose that’s more accurate,” he agreed. “Furthermore… is it okay to commit a crime if it means apprehending a criminal?”

Hifumi’s face fell. “Some people just can’t be punished by the law,” she said, and Goro was almost startled by how grave she sounded – something about this subject must have touched a nerve. “Whether it’s because they refuse to follow it, or because the law doesn’t think what they’ve done is wrong. But that still doesn’t make their actions right.”

“I must agree,” Goro said. Perhaps that was how the Phantom Thieves thought, too. If they had a fraction of the anger he could hear hidden in Hifumi’s words, it would explain their insistence on working outside the legal system.

“So… if the only way a criminal could receive retribution is by committing another crime… I’m not sure if it’s wrong. I guess it depends?” Hifumi said, half statement, half question. Goro understood the feeling. If he had known this case would be so philosophically taxing, he would have tossed it back in Shido’s face the moment he got it.

After a long pause, Hifumi asked, “Have you heard much from them since?” Goro was grateful for the subject change, but he wished she had asked a question to which he had more of an answer. He shook his head. “And you really have no idea who they could be?” she continued.

“Well…” Goro sighed. He had one guess as of right now, but he couldn’t be sure of his suspicions until he had concrete evidence. There were pros and cons to confronting Niijima directly, Goro thought. He would kill for another look in the Thieves’ mailbox, and if she felt nervous from his accusations, she might let him. On the other hand, if he was wrong… Sae might actually kill him for even suspecting her sister.

“No,” Goro decided, “no, I really don’t know. Shujin students, but that hardly narrows down the list.”

“Shujin should be out for summer break soon, right?” Hifumi asked. “If the Thieves still intend to be active over the summer, they won’t be able to work out of the school. That means they’re going to lose a layer of anonymity, doesn’t it?”

Goro paused. That was true – Shujin was sort of like a melting pot. If the Thieves met up at Shujin, there was no way to know which of the hundreds of students they were. But if they were forced to find a new meeting place over the summer, their choice of geographic location could provide an important clue to their identities. “I hadn’t thought of that. I think you’re right, Togo-chan,” he said.

“I’m glad,” Hifumi smiled. “It’s important to try to consider the positive side of any bad situation. For instance…”

Goro followed her gaze down to the Shogi board and felt his heart sink. His distracted playing had left him in a particularly precarious position. They exchanged few words after that, with Goro focusing on trying to salvage the game, and once he was soundly beaten, he decided to take his leave.

“Hey...” Hifumi said, while they were carefully sweeping up the game pieces and stowing them away, “thanks for sharing with me, Akechi-kun. I know you were trying to work something out for yourself, but… I think you actually helped me work through something, too!”

Goro smiled weakly. He wasn’t exactly sure what Hifumi meant, but if their conversation had been helpful to her, he supposed that wasn’t a bad thing.

 

* * *

 

 **> >Anon:** do you think the Thieves are taking a vacation this summer?  
**> >Anon:** no way… they have too much to do!!  
**> >Anon:** Do you think they’d change my math teacher’s heart and convince her not to fail me? ⊙△⊙

Goro scrolled down through the Phantom Thieves phan-forum on Mishima’s blog, hopelessly searching for something that could give him a push in the right direction. Things had certainly quieted down lately, and Goro thought it was showing that the Thieves were actually just students, and probably had been worrying about exams. That was what everyone else at Shujin seemed to be worrying about, if Mishima’s forum was any indication.

He really had hoped to follow up on Hifumi’s suggestion and look for a trace of Thieves’ activity from somewhere else in Shibuya, but so far he hadn’t noticed any suspicious activities, even monitoring a fairly wide geographic radius around Shujin. He should have visited the school again, he realized too late, but now exams had finished, so surely no one would be there…

A strange kind of logic made something click in Goro’s brain. Yes, no one would be there, which, if you didn’t want to be found, would make it the perfect place to hide. Would they be so bold as to break into the school over the summer just for a place to hide out?

It was the kind of thought that, once it had taken root in Goro’s mind, was impossible to shake, and before he could talk himself out of it, he was back on the train to Shujin. Of course, the chance that the Thieves were at the school _right now_ was pretty slim, but if he didn’t find anyone, he reasoned, he could come back one day and hide a camera somewhere, maybe outside the back entrance, and check for evidence of trespassers. If that turned up fruitless too, well, at least he’d know.

When he arrived, he made a big loop around the building towards the back entrance. He tried the door, and to his surprise, it opened easily. Goro felt his heart skip a beat – he hadn’t actually expected the door to be unlocked. Could someone really be here? Was he right?

Goro held his breath and crept into the school, silent and unsettling now that it was missing hundreds of students. Goro closed his eyes and listened, but he didn’t hear anything from the first floor. When he reached the second floor, he paused briefly to try the door to the principal’s office, but it actually was locked. He took a brief detour down the halls, looking for anything out of place, but everything seemed perfectly in order.

Maybe it was just chance that the back door had been unlocked; a janitor had forgotten to lock up after he left, perhaps, or maybe the lock was broken. Either way, by the time he was done, he had searched just about everywhere, save for the gym and the roof.

The roof.

That was the perfect place for a bunch of vigilante high schoolers to hang out, right? Over the summer, it would be even more enticing – a place where they could find guaranteed privacy. It only took Goro a few minutes to find the stairwell leading up, and then he forced himself to take a slow pace, silently ascending the stairs.

When he reached the top, he was greeted with a short hallway leading to a single door. There was a little window on the door, but it was fogged up from dust and time, and Goro couldn’t tell what was on the other side when everything looked like a messy blur. He took a step closer and pressed his ear against the cool metal door, but with the air conditioning running, he couldn’t hear anything meaningful.

Goro tried the handle, and felt it give beneath his touch. It was definitely unlocked. He wanted to open it, to get a glimpse at the roof, but just looking at the door hinge, he could tell it would make a noise the second he tried to move the door out of its frame.

There was also the distinct possibility that the roof would be empty, and all this worrying would be for naught. With that thought, he pushed the handle down and carefully nudged the door open a crack.

The hinges did not immediately betray him, and Goro was able to get the door open about an inch wide before he stopped dead… because he could hear voices. He shifted slightly to the right so he could peer out onto the roof.

Goro could count three people on the roof, all lounging casually on old classroom furniture. Someone, the person closest to him, was wearing a sleeveless white hoodie with the hood pulled up, and had her back towards the door. It was definitely a “her”, though, because she was wearing a skirt; Probably Panther, Goro decided, because sitting beside her was a girl who was undeniably Queen – or, she was undeniably wearing Queen’s mask, anyway, which was enough proof of her identity for Goro.

(Goro wondered, distractedly, if they ever switched masks to try and throw him off the trail, if there were actually _dozens_ of Phantom Thieves all going by the same handful of code names. But Joker seemed to recognize Goro personally, so maybe not.)

Speaking of Joker, it was funny that he didn’t seem to be there – the last Thief was wearing Skull’s mask – but perhaps this was a more impromptu meeting, or they had split up for the day. Goro pulled out his phone and quickly took a picture of the scene in front of him.

Okay, so he knew the Thieves had met here at least once, and he had a photograph. Now was probably the time to retreat and call for back-up, or to formulate a more concrete plan of attack. Drawing attention to himself now would just cause the group the scatter, and he’d be right back where he started…

As luck would have it, though, he didn’t need to draw attention to himself. Seemingly bored by whatever his companions were discussing, Skull’s eyes were wandering. It was inevitable; he had a direct line of sight to the rooftop door from where he was sitting.

“Hey!” Skull barked, sliding off the table he had been sitting on, and – fuck, was he holding a _bat_? Goro took a step back and the door clicked shut in front of him. Before he could turn and leave, however, the door was wrenched open. “You again? What is your problem, dude?” Skull growled.

“Skull, the bat? Really?” Goro heard someone chastise Skull from back on the roof.

Skull looked down at his hand, like he hadn’t realized he had even picked up the bat in the first place. He dropped it, and it hit the cement roof with a resounding clack. Then he threw the door open, revealing Goro more clearly to the remaining Thieves.

“Oh wow, it’s Akechi-kun?” Panther asked. “How did you even find us?”

“Joker pro’bly told him,” Skull muttered.

“You know he wouldn’t,” Queen said.

“Do I?” Skull asked, whipping around to direct his glare at Queen instead of Goro. “Because he doesn’t seem even a little bothered by the fact that this guy’s followin’ us. Actually, I’m pretty sure he thinks it’s hilarious.”

Goro walked out onto the roof, allowing himself to be a little more physically engaged in the conversation, but he kept his mouth shut – maybe if they argued, a few hidden details would slip out.

“We’re not even the ones he should be buggin’!” Skull said, turning on his heel to address Goro again. Between his mask, his codename, and his attire, Skull definitely had the look of a delinquent about him. It wasn’t the kind of thing Goro thought he’d find intimidating, but alone on a roof and outnumbered three to one, he was definitely feeling a bit intimidated. “You’re with the police, right?” Skull asked. “Why’re you wasting your time with us when assholes like Ikeda are left alone?”

“He has to,” Queen cut in, “because it’s his job. Right?” She was staring at Goro. “Someone as young as you doesn’t have a lot of leeway when cases get assigned. Even if you wanted to pursue someone like Ikeda, who wasn’t breaking the law, you’d have to do what you’re told instead.”

Goro clenched his jaw and kept his mouth shut. It was hardly fair that Queen could make such an accurate assumption about him when he just couldn’t get a good read on her; she was so logical and straightforward that she seemed almost comically out of place when compared with Panther or Skull, or even Joker.

“Huh? You’re not saying anything,” Panther said. “Is that really it, Akechi-kun?”

“Ha!” Skull exclaimed, pointing straight at Goro. “Admit it! You think it’s messed up too, don’t you? Police can’t do _shit_ about real problems!”

“…my concerns with our legal system are unrelated to your insistence on working outside the law,” Goro finally said, each word slow and deliberate. “It’s not to say that you aren’t well-intentioned, but if I allowed someone to disregard the law simply because I agreed with them… it would set a terrible precedent.”

There was a long moment where none of the Thieves said anything. They exchanged looks with each other, having a silent conversation in front of Goro’s eyes.

Then Panther spoke up. “Look… I know we’re not supposed to be on the roof,” she said to Goro, “but like, we’re just hanging out. I swear.”

“In disguise?” Goro asked.

Panther faltered and dropped her gaze to the ground. “It’s just, y’know… it’s just cooler that way.”

Goro sighed. He balled his hand up into a fist and then slowly uncurled his fingers, trying to drop the tension from his muscles. “I could easily have you charged for trespassing on school property during the summer,” he said – which admittedly wasn’t the most heinous crime in the world, and even if he got them to the police department, they would probably be released with a slap on the wrist and nothing more – but they didn’t have to know he was bluffing. “But instead I am going to make a request. Stop this. I don’t… I don’t want to have to arrest you for trying to do what you think is right.”

Goro shut his eyes – he couldn’t believe it, but he was embarrassed to have admitted that directly to the Thieves. Even if he found their actions morally questionable, the case was taking a toll on him physically, like he was trying to catch a bunch of ghosts.

When he opened his eyes, the Thieves had moved. He only barely caught sight of Queen looking back at him before she hopped over the far edge of the rooftop.

“H-hey!” Goro exclaimed, rushing over to the edge of the roof. Below, there was a little fire escape that seemed to lead all the way down, or at least to the second floor. Goro looked down just in time to see Skull and Queen disappearing through a window.

Goro threw himself through the rooftop door and made his way down the stairs, trying to mentally gauge what classroom would be right below the far end of the roof. His unfamiliarity with the school slowed him down, though, and by the time he found the right place (a single classroom with its door ajar, unlike every other room on the hall), the Thieves were nowhere to be found.

On his way home, Goro chastised himself for ever taking his eyes off the Thieves, and he swore at them for taking advantage of what he thought had been a moment of genuine understanding.

Jackasses.

 

* * *

 

Goro pulled out his phone that night and took a look at the picture he had taken before he was caught by the Thieves. There was a harsh, sunny glare obscuring most of the photo, and the only truly recognizable object was Skull’s mask. Useless. He sighed.

Photography wasn’t his strong suit, he supposed.

 

* * *

 

It was nearly five pm, and Goro was just getting back to the office. He had been out on errands for most of the day, on his feet, and his legs were aching, heavy and leaden. Usually Goro liked his job, even the difficult days, but popping in and out of meetings with strangers all day had a way of draining him to the core.

But now he was almost done. All he had left was to drop off a few letters and memos at the office, and he would be free. He clung to that thought as he took the time to carefully file everything away in its proper place – it would only cause a bigger headache if he left it for later, he begrudgingly reasoned with himself – and then he was done. Just a quick stop by his desk to drop off some unnecessary items, and…

Goro frowned.

There was something on his desk.

It was a plain white box that, upon closer examination, had a nametag on it, which was addressed to Goro. He wasn’t expecting anything from work, no pieces of evidence, or really anything that could fit into a squat box like that, which meant this had to be… A present? Strange, he hadn’t received an unsolicited gift in quite some time. Of course, Goro thought, he hadn’t made an appearance on TV lately, either, so it was to be expected.

He picked up the box, and found it was surprisingly light, like it was holding something about the same size and weight of a tennis ball. He briefly glanced towards the trash bin down the hall, but it was such an unexpected thing to have this gift suddenly appear for him that his curiosity got the better of him.

The train ride home was a little awkward; he couldn’t fit the box in his briefcase, and he didn’t have his backpack with him now that school was out, so he was stuck resting the box delicately between the crook of his arm and his chest while he stood on a crowded train. He was almost starting to resent the little box by the time he reached his apartment, it had been such a hassle to bring it home.

Flipping over the tag, Goro confirmed that while the gift was definitely addressed to him, the sender’s name was nowhere to be found. By itself, that wasn’t exactly cause for alarm, but it was odd that the gift was so… plain. There were no accessories, no wrapping paper; the way someone wrapped a gift could really say a lot about their personality, and what Goro could tell about this person was that they were either very boring, or very paranoid about being found out.

Idle speculation could only get you so far, Goro mused. He broke the piece of tape holding the box shut and opened it.

There was a little red and black card taped to the inside of the lid.

Anxiety snaked through his chest and tightened around his heart. The colors, that logo – so, this was a present from the Phantom Thieves. That wouldn’t necessarily be cause for alarm, except Goro recognized this card, and it wasn’t the kind that the Thieves sent to the people they were helping – it was the card they sent to their _targets_.

After their conversation on the roof, Goro thought he and the Thieves had come to a shaky understanding, thought that maybe they would even _listen_ to him and quit the vigilante business altogether, but they just turned right around and decided to target Goro. No wonder they had been so quiet lately. But it was strange, given their track record; what had Goro done? Other than accuse the Thieves of their crimes, Goro couldn’t think of a single thing that would provoke them.

He flipped the card over. On the back, there was a note written in white ink.

“I've chosen my target  
You can't run away  
I’m going to steal your heart, Detective Goro Akechi~

\- Joker

P.S. It’s your birthday, right?  
You seem like the kind of person  
who doesn’t like things too sweet.  
Am I wrong?”

What? What did that even mean? Hold on, was today his birthday? Goro dropped the card to the ground and pulled out his phone. June 2nd – it _was_ his birthday. He hadn’t even noticed. And if he hadn’t noticed, how the hell did Joker find out?

Goro returned his attention to the box. There was a small amount of white tissue paper, which Goro quickly disposed of, uncovering… a single cupcake.

Cake. For his birthday, which was today, which Joker somehow knew.

Disgusting… despicable. What a dirty trick. What, were they making fun of him? Trying to unnerve him? Or, well... Goro was making an assumption about “their” actions. The card was only signed with Joker’s name, which was unusual, based on what Goro remembered about the previous calling cards. It was possible Joker was acting alone here.

And what did he mean, “steal your heart”? Goro had seen that terminology on Mishima’s blog before, and he remembered reading it on Madarame’s calling card as well, but he didn’t understand what it meant. Rather, he _thought_ he knew what it meant, in regards to the Thieves’ previous targets, but given the context of Joker’s note, and their previous encounters, Goro couldn’t help but interpret it in a different way.

Goro sank back onto the couch and hugged his legs to his knees. He didn’t want this thief to be flirting with him. He didn’t want to be so affected by his flirting. He didn’t want to think about the alternative – that Joker wasn’t messing with him at all, and just honestly cared enough to give him a gift for his birthday – and he didn’t want to think about how that made him feel.

He didn’t want to think. It would just make him crazy.

 

* * *

 

Later that night, when Goro was hungry, he ate the cupcake. It was delicious, light and airy, like shortcake, with a delicate meringue frosting. Vanilla, but not too sweet, just like the card said.

Goro ate the whole thing in one sitting. He was rewarded with a stomach ache, but if he left any for tomorrow, he’d have proof the gift was real, and he really just wanted to forget about it and all the implications that came with it. He threw away the box, washed his plate, and tucked the card into his briefcase to be taken to the office as evidence. Maybe, he thought while he was trying to fall asleep, he could sweep all this under the rug and pretend none of it had ever happened.

Still, it was a good birthday, all things considered. Probably one of Goro’s best.


	7. Chapter 7

It was definitely out of the way to go to Leblanc for a lunch break – nearly an hour out of his way, in fact – but sometimes that was just what Goro needed. He could afford to take an hour or so off during the middle of the day, especially in the summer when he didn’t have the added pressure of school, and there were some days when he thought he wouldn’t be able to make it through a full shift if he had to remain trapped inside his office the entire time.

Today was one of those days.

He was walking briskly, and by the time he reached the café, he could feel a layer of sweat on the back of his neck. Did Leblanc even have air conditioning? Goro wasn’t sure – it had never been hot enough for him to worry about it before. There were definitely fans, though; he could recall those easily enough.

Ultimately, it wouldn’t matter. Even if Leblanc was sweltering, it wasn’t like he could just turn around and walk straight back to the office. He had already come this far, so it would be a waste to turn back without having a cup of coffee, at least.

Stepping inside, Goro noted that it was just a touch cooler inside the café than it was outside. Kurusu was working, too, and Goro was surprised to see another familiar face, aside from Sakura-san; Makoto Niijima was sitting at the bar. She hadn’t noticed him yet, though, because she was facing away from the door, and both she and Kurusu were watching the television.

It was more familiar company than he was expecting, but it might not be too bad to have a non-work related conversation over lunch for once, Goro thought, and smiled. He was feeling pleased with his decision…

Until he heard his own voice.

Goro had never paid much attention to the TV attached to the far wall in Leblanc. Usually it was tuned to some generic news channel, reviewing national goings-on or something more mundane, like the weather, and it was easy to tune out. It was exactly the kind of channel, he realized, that would air something like an interview with a detective investigating a local crime.

It didn’t happen often, and it hadn’t happened in months, but a local news organization had approached him and asked for an interview earlier in the week. Somehow they had gotten wind of Nakano’s story, and by extension, the Phantom Thieves. Just through his brief conversation with the studio executive, Goro got the feeling that the reporter was interested in exaggerating the story for ratings, so Goro saw agreeing to the interview as something like damage control.

“Why haven’t we heard about this gang until now?” the reporter asked. He was a reedy man, with a less-than-stellar TV presence, but Goro supposed that local networks couldn’t be choosey when it came to their talent. He had a clear voice, at least, and he seemed genuinely engaged in the interview, which made him easy to work with. It made for engaging TV, too.

“That is because their crimes, if you could call them that, were hardly severe enough to warrant public attention,” the televised Goro replied. “In fact, we’re still struggling to decide if this is a criminal or a civil case.”

Goro cringed. He put a lot of thought into making sure his answers would be reassuring and thoughtful, without giving away any actual details about the case, and he was usually satisfied with his interviews. Still, it was strange to hear his disembodied voice parroting back such generic platitudes. He almost wondered if he should turn around and just leave, but Sakura-san had already noticed him, giving him a silent nod as a greeting, and so Goro reluctantly took a seat at the far end of the bar.

“Then, would you say their existence points to a growing trend of bullying in high schools…?” the reporter continued.

Before Goro’s double could answer the question, the television abruptly changed channels.

“All right,” Sakura said, shaking his head. Goro saw a remote control in his hand. “We’re not gonna make the kid sit here and watch himself talk.”

“Hmm?” Kurusu and Niijima both turned towards Sakura-san, confused, before they noticed Goro. Niijima seemed especially surprised; she couldn’t have been expecting to see him here, whereas Kurusu at least knew Goro was a regular.

Goro smiled weakly. “Ah, it’s fine,” he said. “I apologize; I didn’t mean to interrupt.” Despite that, he did notice that his shoulders felt less tense now. Sakura-san definitely had a good sense of when something was making his customers uncomfortable.

“You didn’t,” Makoto said. “We were just watching what was on." She stopped with her lips slightly parted, like she was going to say something else, before she shifted gears and took the conversation in another direction: "I have to say, I wasn’t expecting to see you here, Akechi-kun.”

“I could say the same,” Goro said. He glanced towards Kurusu, but the barista had almost immediately stepped away and began to prepare coffee for Goro. “Did Sae-san recommend Leblanc to you as well, Niijima-chan?”

Makoto’s eyebrows rose. “Sis comes here?” she asked.

“Not recently," Sakura-san commented, "but she’s definitely been here fair number of times."

“Oh, I… I see,” Makoto said. “No, she’s never mentioned it, but I know Akira-kun from school.”

“Ah, of course. You both attend Shujin,” Goro said. He thought he remembered Kurusu telling him that before.

“You’re still investigating the Phantom Thieves, I see,” she added. There was a distinctly cooler note to her voice now.

“Indeed so,” Goro said. “Though this interview came quite out of the blue. I hope it won’t cause problems for you, Niijima-chan.”

Silence hung in the air for a moment. “Your replies were quite thoughtful,” Makoto then said, “and you didn’t draw any undue attention to Shujin; in fact, you may not have mentioned the school at all. I appreciate that.”

“It was something that crossed my mind. I didn’t want to dodge his questions, but it would be troublesome if the school was suddenly the target of media attention,” Goro said.

Kurusu rejoined the conversation, setting a coffee cup down in front of Goro. “You’re investigating the Phantom Thieves?” he asked.

“I am,” Goro said. “You attend Shujin, so you must be familiar with them as well?”

Kurusu nodded. “This is the first time I’ve heard them talked about outside of Shujin, though.”

“Mm,” Goro nodded. He contemplated his coffee. It wasn’t exactly the right weather to enjoy a piping hot beverage, and even though he was inside, Goro felt warm. Still, he couldn’t wait for the coffee to cool. That would be an affront to Sakura-san; although, wait, Kurusu had made this cup, hadn’t he?

He settled for taking a short sip and holding the cup in his hands, letting the heat radiate off it. “Niijima-chan,” he asked, “do you still hold your original opinion about the Phantom Thieves?”

Makoto’s eyes turned downcast. “It would be willfully ignorant of me to say they don’t exist when you’ve clearly experienced their actions first-hand,” she said, “but I’m still not sure they originated at Shujin.”

“Why would they lie about something like that?” Kurusu asked. He was standing with his elbows propped up on the counter, halfway in between Makoto and Goro’s seats.

Makoto shot a brief but notable glare at Kurusu. “I don’t know, Akira. To throw off suspicion? It would hard to suspect high school students of such organized crimes.”

“Crimes,” Goro said. He took another sip of his coffee. “That’s how you see it?”

Makoto made a noise like a balloon deflating. “I don’t know. I – I don’t want to talk about this right now,” she said.

Goro laughed softly. “My apologies; you were just trying to enjoy a meal, and I had to barge in and bring the mood down,” he said. He swiveled in his seat so that he was facing forward, putting less social pressure on Makoto. He was still considering asking Makoto about her request box, but it seemed too direct… she could easily lie and say she never received a request regarding Ikeda, and Goro wouldn’t have a way to know if she was telling the truth or not – especially in front of someone like Kurusu, who might not know that she was the one who installed the box in the first place.

Speaking of Kurusu, Goro was facing him more directly now. “What about you, Kurusu-kun?” he asked, voice pitched up in an attempt to sound non-confrontational. “Do you share Niijima's opinion on the Thieves?"

Goro was able to wrap his hands fully around his coffee mug now, and he watched over the rim of his mug as Kurusu shifted awkwardly in place, gathering his thoughts. “I guess I don’t really think they’re bad guys,” Kurusu said after a while. “But I don’t know what they’ve done, other than get Kamoshida fired.” Then his eyes went a bit wide behind his glasses, and he asked, “You, uh, aren’t going to arrest me for saying that, right?”

Goro laughed. “It’s not illegal to have an opinion, Kurusu,” he said. A visible look of relief washed over Kurusu's face, and it made Goro smile. Cute. “It’s interesting," Goro continued. "Most Shujin students seem to have a positive perception of them… I wonder why.”

“Guys…” Makoto said wearily. She was looking at them sideways, a tired expression on her face. Kurusu jumped a little and stood up, mumbling a quiet apology.

“Ah, I’m sorry as well. We’ll drop it now,” Goro assured her. It was probably for the best; he _had_ come here to eat lunch, after all, and so far he had barely finished a single cup of coffee. While Kurusu and Makoto turned to casual small talk, Goro finished his meal in relative silence.

 

* * *

 

Crimes tended to spike during the summer. Something to do with the heat, Goro figured, since it was too hot to stay inside without air conditioning, but the sun made going outside equally unpleasant. Somehow, those two facts combined to make people more irritable and impulsive.

It meant that the police were spread thing, and that made it even harder for Goro to justify asking Shido to assign even one or two police officers to Goro’s case. He would find a way, though, because he was done playing around. He had been so close to apprehending the Thieves… well, apprehending was a strong word, but he _had_ tracked them down three times now, and three times they had gotten away without a hitch.

So how hard could it be to find them one more time, but with appropriate back-up?

The hardest part, honestly, would be admitting the need for help, which was why Goro found himself stalling for time on his walk back to the office. He prided himself on his self-reliance, and it felt like a personal failing that he was unable to actually threaten the Thieves in any tangible way. It was infuriating; they were just high schoolers! Just a bunch of punks!

Why, why were they so unnaturally elusive?

Goro wove his hands into his hair and massaged his scalp. He was giving himself a headache, but whenever he tried to picture the Phantom Thieves, he could only really conjure up an image of their masks. That was yet another sore spot for him, because it made them near-impossible to profile, which was something _else_ he’d have to admit to Shido. He could already picture how that conversation was going to go…

Goro thought back to the members he had met so far. In his mind, they were all distinct, but at the same time, he couldn’t tell them apart. There was something striking about Panther, he thought. Her hair, maybe… had she been blonde? No wait, that was Skull. Right?

And then there was Joker. The leader was easily the most visually distinct member of the Thieves, whose grey eyes were as memorable as his mask, and _even then_ Goro had only the faintest recollection of his appearance. It was his presence that stuck out in Goro’s mind, his attitude, and his actions, which _were_ obviously criminal. As a person, however, Joker was hard to hate. He was friendly, and he radiated charm…

Goro could feel Joker’s calling card burning in his pocket. It was an important piece of evidence, and Goro didn’t want to risk losing it – but even more than that, he didn’t want to risk having someone else find and interpret it – so he thought the best thing to do would be to keep it on his person. He would pull the card out sometimes, while on the train, or when he was trying to fall asleep, and he would study the carefully lettered print, looking for clues, for any hidden message he might have missed the first time he read it.

Steal your heart, steal your heart. Well, Joker had certainly done a good job of stealing Goro’s _mind_ , considering how much time Goro had spent thinking about him. It was driving him insane to consider how close he had been to Joker, completely unable to stop him...

_No,_ Goro thought. He took a slow breath and carefully detangled his hands from his hair.

No, it was fine.

He could salvage this.

When he arrived, Goro found Shido’s office door was closed, so he had to knock. There was no response – there never was – but knocking was just a way to announce his presence, anyway. The door would be locked if Shido really didn’t want to be disturbed.

Goro let himself into the room. Shido turned his head a fraction of an inch to acknowledge Goro, and Goro fixed his stare in between Shido’s eyes, launching straight into his spiel.

“I need back-up with the Phantom Thieves case,” Goro said. “Just two officers would be more than enough. Surely you can call the precinct and arrange for that?”

Fewer words were usually better when it came to speaking with his father, Goro had decided.

Shido’s face remained impassive. “And what, precisely, do you plan to do with that kind of manpower?” he asked.

_Manpower,_ Goro thought. It took herculean willpower to keep from rolling his eyes. “I have identified several locations in Shibuya that I believe are likely to be frequented by the suspects,” he said. “By myself, I have been unable to apprehend them, but someone trained to capture criminals…”

A heavy silence fell after he finished speaking. Goro continued to look straight through Shido, refusing to make eye contact. He didn’t need to see the look in Shido’s eyes to feel the distain radiating off of him. It must be a terrible pain, Goro thought, for Shido to have to decide whether to allow Goro a modicum of responsibility or allow his department’s reputation to suffer.

“Ito and Fujiwara,” Shido finally said. “I’ll call ahead and tell them to report to you tomorrow for instructions. They’re low enough in the ranks that they shouldn’t have anything else to do.”

It took Goro a few seconds to process the fact that Shido was agreeing to his terms; it was not the outcome Goro had expected or prepared for. He had prepared all these arguments to convince Shido to allow him this resource, and in the end he discarded them all. Instead he said, “wonderful,” and gave a short, stiff bow. “Thank you,” he said, and he turned heel and left before Shido could change his mind.

 

* * *

 

The next day, Goro came in with a plan. No more waiting for the Thieves to appear; Goro was ready to take the police to THEM. Instead of working on any assigned jobs (he could take flak for that later), he spent hours poring over a map, marking a sizeable radius around Shujin Academy where the Thieves might work. Halfway through the day, he got a call from the precinct, and was able to meet up with Officers Ito and Fujiwara.

They were more than happy to help Goro with his case – he suspected it was far more interesting work than they were used to, if Shido’s slight against their rank was to be believed. Together, they worked out a reasonable patrol schedule, and a system of daily updates: texts if nothing interesting happened, a call otherwise.

Things were quiet for some time after that. Given that it was summer, the Thieves wouldn’t have access to their request box, so it may have been that they simply had nothing to do. More likely, Goro thought, was that they were laying low after Goro had found their hiding spot on Shujin’s roof. Goro had given Ito specific instructions to check in at Shujin regularly, but thus far he hadn’t turned anything up; indeed, the back door had been locked every time Ito tried to visit so far.

Goro had almost given up hope after a few fruitless weeks, had certainly given up hope of hearing any news from Ito or Fujiwara that didn’t boil down to “nothing today, sorry”. He had no reason to expect that the phone call he received one afternoon, which came admittedly at an unusual time, would be any different from the dozens of calls he’d received previously.

Although he recognized Officer Ito’s number, he picked up and asked, “Hello?”

“Detective Akechi?” Ito’s voice on the other end was all business. “This is Officer Ito. I just got a call from Fujiwara-san; he says he’s arrested one of the Phantom Thieves.”

“What?” Goro couldn’t help but exclaim. “I mean,” he cleared his throat and started again, less shrill this time, “that’s wonderful news. Where is Fujiwara now?”

“He’s in the process of transporting her to the detention center closest to the prosecutor’s office,” Ito said. “They should be there any minute now.”

_Her, huh…_ that meant they hadn’t captured Joker. Goro could only hope to be so lucky. He couldn’t think like that, though; this _was_ lucky – beyond lucky. It was the biggest breakthrough he had made so far.

“Thank you, Officer Ito,” Goro said. “I truly appreciate the call.”

“Not a problem. Good luck with the investigation,” Ito said, and hung up.

Goro waited restlessly for a few long minutes before he walked over to the police station. _Her,_ he thought again during his walk; ‘her’ meant it was either Panther or Queen, probably. Goro knew that there were at least two other Thieves, not including Joker, but Goro didn’t know whether that one Thief Joker had mentioned – Oracle – was male or female. So for now his bets were on Panther or Queen.

_Hopefully Panther,_ he thought. He wasn’t especially looking forward to a one-on-one confrontation with Queen right now, or ever.

The guard at the police office’s front desk looked like he was expecting Goro, and waved him over when he arrived. He explained that they had taken the Thief to the third detention room, and she wasn't even wearing a mask…! Goro had to force down an excited smile as he approached the guard outside the detention room and showed him his badge. There was no window on the door, of course – it was a safety precaution – so Goro could only speculate who could be waiting for him until the guard unlocked the door and allowed Goro entrance.

Inside, there was a single wooden table with a pair of chairs on either side. It was a tiny room, just barely big enough for two people, and there was nothing else to look at except for the person sitting at the table.

Goro frowned.

_Oh, no,_ he thought.

No. There had to be a mistake.

Goro would turn in his detective’s badge right then and there if _Hifumi Togo_ had been a Phantom Thief all this time, and he had never noticed.

Hifumi looked up when Goro arrived. “Akechi-kun?” she asked, her voice weak and wavering. She was sitting stiff as a board in her chair, hands clasped together in her lap, her legs pressed tightly together, like she was trying to take up as little space as possible. Her eyes were red, and Goro thought she may have been crying before he got there. He felt a sharp pain in his chest. “What’s going on?” she asked. “Why are you here? I mean… why am _I_ here?”

Silently, Goro took the seat across from Hifumi. “Togo-chan…” he said, his voice slow and measured. He had to be rational about this. “I need you to be completely honest with me.” Another long pause; he wasn’t looking forward to actually saying it. “Are you one of the Phantom Thieves?” he asked.

Hifumi’s eyes went wide. “No… no!” she exclaimed at once. “I’m not… is that what this is about?”

Goro sighed and leaned back in his chair. “Yes, I’m afraid. I had a few police officers patrolling, looking for the Thieves based on some of my intel… I suppose they mistook you for one of them.”

“O… oh,” Hifumi said. She relaxed a little, if you could call it relaxing; her shoulders slumped and she teetered forward, leaning into the table.

“I’m terribly sorry,” Goro said. “I didn’t think something like this would happen.”

He wouldn’t blame Ito or Fujiwara – couldn’t, really. Goro didn’t give them any physical descriptions except that the Thieves were high school students, which Hifumi definitely was. She didn’t seem hurt, at least, just upset and scared. _Damn it,_ Goro thought. This wasn't supposed to happen.

“Akechi-kun…” Hifumi’s voice broke him out of his thoughts. Goro looked up. “I’m not a Phantom Thief,” she said. She was fidgeting in her seat, unable or unwilling to look Goro in the eye. “But I… I may have… hired them?”

Goro blinked.

“What… what do you mean?”

Sheepishly, Hifumi kept her eyes glued to the table, wringing her hands together. “I mean, I… that is, after everything you told me about the Thieves, I thought they might be able to help me. My problem… it’s not criminal. And after you told me about that box at Shujin, I…” she trailed off.

“Togo-chan…” Goro sighed. He raised his hand and pinched the bridge of his nose.

“I’m sorry,” Hifumi said, and hung her head low. “I know you’re investigating them. But from what you’ve told me, they’re not really criminals, are they?”

“They’re…” Goro cut himself off. That was the million dollar question, wasn’t it? “Not in the traditional sense, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t dangerous.”

“As you’ve said…” Hifumi shrugged. She didn't sound convinced.

Well, it wouldn’t do any good to grill Hifumi on a choice she made herself. Nothing could be done about the past at this point, and, Goro was starting to realize, he might have actually stumbled into a favorable situation here. “Togo-chan,” he said, “I’m sorry this happened. But, as long as you’re here… I would very much appreciate it if you could tell me what happened. Start to finish.”

Hifumi sat up a little straighter and nodded. “Well, first they sent me a text message. I left my phone number on my request note,” she explained. “They were trying to make sure I was the same person who wrote the request. Then, we set up a meeting in-person. They wanted to meet somewhere public, but not too conspicuous, so we ended up at a park near Kosei.

“Two of them met me in person. There was…” Hifumi’s eyes screwed shut in concentration, “One was a girl, I think. She looked like she had a piece of metal strapped to her face.”

_That would be Queen,_ Goro thought.

“And then there was a boy with a white mask–“

_And Joker._

“– that was shaped like a fox’s head.”

_Or not?_ Joker’s mask definitely wasn’t shaped like a fox.

“I took a picture,” Hifumi said, pulled out her phone. She tapped her screen a few times, and then frowned. She turned the phone so that Goro could see. The photo was exceptionally blurry, with two humanoid figures in the foreground. One of the masks was in focus, though, and Goro could tell it was certainly not Joker’s mask. It was just like Hifumi said – a fox’s face.

“Oh,” Hifumi said, obviously disappointed. “I guess I didn’t get a very good shot?”

“Interesting,” Goro said. It was just like the picture he had taken on Shujin’s roof. “Togo-chan, could you send me that photo, please?”

Hifumi nodded, and seconds later Goro felt his phone buzz in his pocket. “Thank you,” he said. They were done now, more or less, so he stood up, and Hifumi followed suit. “I’ll be sure to speak with the officers and make sure this doesn’t end up giving you a criminal record. It was a mistake, so it won’t be hard to erase it entirely.”

“Thank you, Akechi-kun,” Hifumi said. She was smiling, just a little. “Um… If you really think it’s a bad idea, I’ll cut contact with them from now on.”

Goro shook his head. “I don’t think they’re going to hurt you; in fact, it might be more dangerous to suddenly stop communication all together," he said. Hesitantly, he continued, "I would ask, however, that the next time you plan to meet with the Thieves… if it’s not too much trouble, I’d like to accompany you.”

Hifumi was quiet for a minute, and then slowly, she nodded. “I think that would be fine. You… just want to talk to them. Right?”

Goro took a sharp breath. Oh, he definitely didn’t just want to talk to them; he could feel rage simmering beneath his skin – embarrassment, guilt, and fury all mixed together – because even though it was because of her meeting with the Thieves that Hifumi had been arrested, it was _Goro_ who gave the orders to arrest the Thieves. He could feel the heavy burden of responsibility for Hifumi’s arrest, and he didn’t want to shoulder it all himself.

This was _their_ fault, and Goro wanted to let them know it.

“Of course,” he said out loud, plastering a bright smile on his face. “Just to talk. Nothing else.”


	8. Chapter 8

Truthfully, Goro was glad it took some time for the Thieves to contact Hifumi again, because it gave him the chance to calm down. He hated being angry; it made him feel out of control, like someone else was piloting his body and forcing him to act based on instinct and emotion alone. For Goro, it was a point of pride that he was usually so good about remaining calm under fire, and thus he considered it a personal failing that he felt as furious at the Thieves as he did.

That day, as soon as he was done clearing Hifumi of any erroneous charges, he did what anyone else would have done: he went on a walk.

A _long_ walk.

And while on that walk, he did some thinking, and found his thoughts were inevitably taking him to a place he desperately wanted to avoid. The idea struck him for the first time when he walked past a fortune teller who had set up a little stand down a shallow alleyway in Shinjuku: perhaps there was a _less logical_ explanation for the Thieves’ illusory traits.

It was dumb, and oh, he knew it. Surely it was more likely that the police had just underestimated the Thieves, had taken advantage of the shocked girl who _didn’t_ run away when they yelled at her to halt, than it was that they were, what? Ghosts? Real-life phantoms?

…on the other hand, it made him even angrier to think that regular high schoolers were legitimately outsmarting him and the police at every turn. What was the less embarrassing explanation? It was hard to say.

After walking past the fortune teller’s booth for a third time and accidentally making eye contact, Goro bit the bullet and walked over to her table. Fortune telling wasn’t real as far as Goro was concerned, but neither were phantoms or magicians. If he was already going down this road, he might as well consult an expert in the subject.

She smiled at him as he approached the table. She had a warm energy about her, all soft around the edges. “Something troubling you?” she asked.

Goro let out a short puff of laughter. “Did you realize that the second time I walked past, or the third?” he asked.

“The first,” she replied, and gestured to the seat in front of her. “I’m Chihaya Mifune. Any interest in getting your fortune told today?”

“I – uh, I’m not sure,” Goro said, sitting down. He glanced over her table, noticed the deck of cards she had beside her. “You are a tarot reader, yes?” he asked. “So, would it be possible that you have some experience with, ah, inexplicable phenomena?”

Mifune’s eyebrows knit together, and she frowned. “Uh… what sort of inexplicable phenomena are we talking about here?”

“Well,” Goro steeled himself and pressed on, “I’m a detective. I’ve been researching a group called the Phantom Thieves, and I—“

“Oh,” she interrupted, her eyes lighting up with recognition, “you mean the guys who shut down that host club back in January?”

Shut down – what? Goro hadn’t remembered hearing about that, though he hadn’t researched the Thieves’ first case beyond reading Mishima’s blog. “You’ve heard of them?” he asked.

“Oh, sure. I was working the day the posters went up,” Mifune said, nodding. “Didn’t see who did it, but I sure did hear about it. They made a lot of waves here in Shinjuku.”

“Waves? In what way?” Goro asked. It wasn’t surprising that the Thieves left an impression on Shujin, but this would point to their actions having a farther-reaching impact than Goro had originally assumed.

Mifune waved a hand, gesturing out to the street. “Once that one host was exposed, tons of accusations came out against the other employees. It was a total domino effect thing,” she explained. “The club’s still open for now, but from what I’ve heard, it’s doing terrible business.”

“How curious,” Goro said.

“For sure,” Mifune said. “Anyway, I wish I could tell you more about them, but honestly that’s pretty much all I know.”

Goro pulled his phone from his pocket and pulled up the photo Hifumi had sent him. “I’ve met the Thieves in person a few times, but every time I’ve attempted to capture them in a photo, this happens.” He placed the phone on the table. “Furthermore, I find it nearly impossible to recall what they look like. I was wondering if you could offer any insight into why that may be.”

“Um…” Mifune leaned forward to get a better look at his phone. “I mean, this isn’t really my specialty. Mostly I just read tarot. Plus, it’s not like I’ve met them in person.”

“Please,” Goro said. “I’m lost at this point.” His eyes wandered, and he noticed a price board behind Mifune’s head. Without hesitating, he found his wallet and produced a few thousand yen. “I wouldn’t ask for your consultation for free, of course.”

Mifune looked from the yen on the table to Goro and back. “Okay, well…” she pulled the cash to her side of the desk, leaned back, and paused thoughtfully. “Theoretically, any kind of item could be imbued with spiritual power. It could be that the masks have some sort of… protection charm on them, which obscures the owner’s appearance when you try to photograph them. Based on your picture, that’s my first thought.”

“I see,” Goro said. He wasn’t exactly sure what kind of answer he expected to get. “That just seems so...” _impossible_ , he thought.

“Well,” Mifune said, with a sympathetic smile, “you could just be a terrible photographer.”

Goro laughed. “But then why can’t I remember what the Thieves look like?”

Mifune shrugged. “It could be psychological,” she suggested. “You’re hyper-focusing on the masks – and just looking at your picture, these masks are designed to draw attention themselves – so they stick out in your memory more strongly than physical appearance.”

“It’s in my head, then,” Goro said.

“Could be,” Mifune said. “Maybe not. Without seeing the masks in person, I really can’t say for sure.”

“Understandable, of course,” Goro said. He bit back a sigh. “So do you think there could be a supernatural explanation for the Thieves’ behaviors, and the public’s reaction to them?” he asked. “Or lack of reaction, I should maybe say…”

“Hard to say,” Mifune said. “Honestly, you’d be surprised how much people DON’T want to bother themselves with other people’s lives. Until they’re face to face with a dead body, most people will just go right along with their day. Public disinterest isn’t necessarily a sign that something spiritual is involved.”

“I suppose that’s fair,” Goro said. “Well, I very much appreciate your insight, Mifune-san,” he said, and made to stand up. “Thank you.”

“Wait!” Mifune said, reaching out to halt him. “Let me at least read your fortune. That’s what I’m really good at. I’d hate for you to have paid me for such bare-bones advice.”

Goro hesitated. Fortune-telling… how frivolous. He really didn’t see what benefit it could possibly have. On the other hand, he had already come so far down this rabbit hole, so what did he have to lose?

“Very well,” Goro said, and resettled in his seat. “I would be happy to see you in your element, Mifune-san.”

Mifune smiled and took her tarot deck, shuffling it loosely in her hands. “I know it’s odd to ask after we’ve spoken so much, but could you tell me your name?” Mifune asked.

“Oh, um…” Goro didn’t realize that he’d have to reveal his name. It was a little embarrassing now that he was put on the spot.

Mifune must have noticed, because she then added: “Don’t worry, I’m not gonna tell anyone that you got a fortune from me. It’s, like… fortune-teller/customer confidentiality.”

“Very well, then. My name is Goro Akechi,” he said.

“Okay, Akechi-kun, so I need you to think about a particular question – something you want answered,” Mifune said.

“I see… I’m afraid I hadn’t thought ahead,” Goro said. He paused, and contemplated her question. “I suppose… I’d like to know what kind of outcome this case will have for me. I’m certain you couldn’t tell me how it will resolve from a criminal perspective, but as for my personal growth.” The words sort of spilled out of his mouth before his brain had a chance to catch up. He laughed, a little awkwardly. “I’m sorry; I suppose that’s a bit trite, isn’t it?”

“Not at all,” Mifune said. “In fact, it’s perfect. Trying to get a concrete answer from the cards is just going to leave you frustrated. With an open-ended question like that, I can see where the cards take me.”

With that, she began to lay out her spread, Goro watching closely as she overturned card after card. He recognized them, mostly, but her cards also had their names emblazoned on the edge, which helped Goro fill in the gaps of the cards he didn’t know.

At the bottom, closest to Mifune’s side of the table, she revealed the High Priestess. She moved up and to the left and placed another card, the Hermit. She continued in that way with Temperance, Sun, the Emperor and the Magician – though both of those cards were facing Goro, not Mifune – the Fool, and lastly the Justice, making a neatly-shaped diamond of cards.

Mifune poured over the cards, nodding to herself. “This mystery is really weighing on you, huh?” she asked, addressing Goro without looking up from the cards. “Hmm… you’re definitely conflicted. But I think… I think you’re on the right track.” She pointed at the second card, the Hermit. “Take your time to think about what you really want to come of your investigation,” she said, “and I think you’ll be pleased with where you go.”

“Is that so…?” Goro asked. Well, it was certainly vague. He supposed Mifune couldn’t afford to be too precise in her predictions, or she may get something wrong. That said, it wasn’t terrible advice; he did need to consider what exactly he was hoping to achieve by prosecuting the Phantom Thieves. They were hardly violent offenders, certainly not murderers, and Goro doubted they would ever escalate to such behavior. Why, then, did he feel so adamantly that he needed to continue his investigation…?

Goro thanked Mifune for her time, and left with a brain even more filled with questions than when he had arrived.

 

* * *

 

Hifumi shifted uncomfortably in place, trying to find a comfortable spot on the brick retaining wall where she was sitting. She flicked her eyes towards Goro, then back to the building in front of her. “They’re usually pretty punctual,” she said, “so… it won’t be long now.”

Goro hummed in wordless acknowledgement. They were sitting in a secluded alcove just outside a large office building complex, waiting. It was Sunday, and the offices were closed, which made it a nice location to meet up in relative secrecy. It had only taken a few days before the Thieves contacted Hifumi again, and, true to her word, she informed Goro shortly afterwards.

Now they were awaiting the Thieves’ arrival. Goro felt his frustrations simmering in the back of his mind, no longer as fresh and raw as it had been the day he was confronted with Hifumi’s accidental arrest, but still there. More present in his mind were the questions Mifune had left with him, questions about his involvement in this case, and about what he hoped would happen to the Phantom Thieves if he was able to bring them to justice. Questions about what “bringing them to justice” would even mean in this situation.

He heard Hifumi make a small, startled noise, and he looked up. Goro was surprised to see not one or two Thieves coming around the corner, but what seemed to be the entire posse. It was certainly more than he had ever seen in one place before: Joker leading the pack, the rest trailing behind him, including that one with the fox-face mask that Hifumi had mentioned.

Skull was less than thrilled to see Goro.

“Woah! Hey, woah! What is this, a sting operation? Has she been workin’ with the cops?” he yelled, shifting into a defensive stance once they got close.

“That’s not it,” Hifumi said quickly. The Thieves pooled around them, leaving Goro and Hifumi more or less cornered. Goro saw Queen place a hand on Skull’s shoulder and mumble something to him, which caused him to back off a little.

“Actually, I had my own reasons for wanting to speak with you today,” Goro cut in before Skull could retort, staring directly at Joker, who – bastard that he was – actually smiled a little. “I don’t intend to interfere with your and Togo-chan’s conversation.”

Joker glanced over the group. “Queen, Fox, you wanna go ahead and start talking with Hifumi?” he asked. Queen nodded, and the two thieves gathered Hifumi and walked a few yards away. After a brief pause and a dirty glare towards Goro, Skull dashed off after them.

“You and that girl,” Joker said slowly, once she was out of ear-shot, “Are you… y’know…?” He held up a pair of fingers and twisted them together.

It took a moment before Goro understood his meaning. “N-no, no!” He stammered, his cheeks going red with embarrassment. “I’m not – Togo-chan, she, she doesn’t… like… men.”

 _Unlike myself_ , a thought which came to him unbidden, was left unsaid.

Joker looked legitimately stunned. “O-oh,” he said flatly. “Um.”

“Good going, Joker,” Panther said, giving Joker a playful punch on the shoulder.

“Please forget you heard that,” Goro said, wincing, “It wasn’t my place to tell you.”

“No, it’s – it’s fine. I’ve already forgotten.” Joker said, waving his hand. “Anyway, what was it you wanted to talk about?”

Right, back to business. Goro took a steadying breath and reached into his pocket, pulling out Joker’s card. “This card… What is the meaning of it?” he asked, thrusting the calling card out towards him.

Joker blinked and took the card from Goro’s hand. He glanced at it, flipped it over, and then smirked. “It means exactly what it says,” he replied.

“J-Joker!” Panther exclaimed, shooting her leader a frustrated look. “You sent a calling card without telling us?”

Joker raised his hands up, palms out, as if to say ‘guilty as charged’.

“Relax, it’s not a REAL calling card,” he said. “I just did it for the visual effect.”

“You are _so_ reckless,” Panther chided, shaking her head.

Goro frowned. So Panther didn’t know? Joker had been acting on his own when he sent Goro that card. Ah… so it was just to confuse him, to throw him off of his game. That was… it should have been a relief, but instead Goro felt like he was being choked.

“Did you like it?” Joker asked. “The gift, I mean.”

 _That_ was what he wanted to know? Joker was just making fun of him at this point. Goro curled his lip up and sneered. “I didn’t touch it,” he said. He could feel heat rising in his cheeks despite his best efforts to remain calm. “I wouldn’t dare eat food prepared by an enemy.”

To Goro’s surprise, Joker’s face fell. He looked away, ran a hand through his hair. “Ha… it’s all business with you, huh?” he said, in a much softer voice than Goro had expected. “Are we enemies now?”

“Are we not?” Goro asked.

“I didn’t think so,” Joker said. “Would you laugh if I said I thought we weren’t so different?”

Goro scoffed. “You…” he started, and took a long, measured breath before continuing: “caused an innocent person to be arrested in your stead. You _have_ broken the law. You continue to mock me…”

“Akechi-kun,” Joker said, taking a step forward.

“Shut up,” Goro snapped. “The worst part… truly the most infuriating thing about you, Joker… is that your cause is good. Were it not for your insistence on vigilantism, I…” he cut himself off abruptly. “Cowardly. That’s what you are. You could do a world of good if you didn’t insist on hiding your face and refusing to work within the law.”

As soon as he vocalized his thoughts, Goro was overcome with an urge to unveil him – to end this right now, if he could just unmask him. Goro lunged forward and swiped at Joker’s face, but the thief was faster, and he shifted just out of Goro’s reach in a half-second. Panther was suddenly much, much closer, placing herself bodily between Joker and Goro.

“H-hey, Akechi-kun, let’s calm down, okay?” she pleaded. “I’m sure Joker didn’t mean anything by sending you that card; it was probably just his bad idea of a joke, _right?_ ” she asked, looking pointedly at Joker.

Somehow, Goro thought that would make it worse, if Joker didn’t mean anything by it. Ha ha, Goro thought someone cared about him. What a hilarious joke.

Yet, Joker wasn’t laughing.

Goro side-stepped Panther and addressed Joker directly. “I am finished,” he said. His voice had taken on a leaden quality. “Take responsibility for your actions and cease operations as the Phantom Thieves, or I will continue to escalate my investigation. I don’t… I don’t wish to arrest you. But I _will_.”

Joker opened his mouth, but Goro decided he didn’t want to hear it, whatever it was. He strode away from the group, ignoring the things they yelled after him. Briefly, his thoughts drifted back to Hifumi; he didn’t want her to think he was abandoning her, but she was perfectly capable of handling herself. He’d send her a text later, tell her where he went… he wasn’t worried the Thieves would hurt her, anyway, and she could finish her business with them alone.

His anger was coming back, and he didn’t want to be here. He didn’t want to be near Joker at all.

 

* * *

 

It was a warm, sunny afternoon, and Hifumi was sitting at a two-person table outside a little café across the street from a small public park where Goro had stationed himself.

“I’m going to confront my mother tomorrow,” Hifumi had said during their Shogi game last night. “The Thieves offered to do it for me, but I… I wanted to do it myself. I have e-mails from my mother that pretty much spell out what she did, but I’m still afraid she’ll try to deny the evidence.”

She fiddled with a Shogi piece before setting it gently down on the game board. “I would… I’d feel a lot better if I had someone supporting me,” she said. “Um, Akechi-kun…”

“Of course,” Goro had replied. “Of course. Just tell me when and where.”

He was the one who had suggested she meet her mother at an open-air café, an overtly public location, to help make sure her mother would sit and listen. Running off and making a scene so publicly… hopefully, the threat of social embarrassment would make an effective deterrent.

Presently, Goro saw someone who he could only assume was Hifumi’s mother walking down the street. She had the same dark hair, and a similar style of walking, and Hifumi recognized her, too, standing up to greet her before they both sat down. It was impossible to hear what they were saying, of course, but Goro was content to keep watch from afar.

“You decided to come too, I see,” a voice said from behind Goro. Goro turned and found a pair of Thieves: Queen was the one who addressed him, but Fox was there, too.

“Indeed,” Goro said. “On Togo-chan’s request. I’m simply here to observe and step in if things go poorly.”

“It’s the same for us,” Queen said. “Well, she didn’t ask us to come, but for our own sake, we wanted to see how things play out.” She slid onto the bench beside Goro, and he took the chance to look her over. Her hair was short and clasped close to her head with a large clip, her mask disappearing under her bangs where it wrapped around the edge of her face. She was familiar somehow, but in a way Goro couldn’t place.

“Hifumi-chan had a theory,” Queen began to say, “that her mother was rigging matches in her favor. It was an accusation she has endured throughout her career, but she said this most recent event was very convincing.”

“Rigging the game… how?” Goro asked. “It is possible to rig a game of strategy?”

“It would be difficult, yes,” Fox said, “but to convince her opponent to throw the game…”

“Ah… you think her mother was bribing other Shogi players?” Goro asked. Togo-chan must have been devastated to learn that, he thought. It would be a huge blow to anyone’s pride.

“That’s what Hifumi-chan seems to believe,” Queen said.

They trailed off and watched the scene in front of them. The conversation seemed to be going well, from what they could tell as bystanders. After some time, they were able to stand up, and Hifumi’s mother gave her daughter a hug before they parted ways. Hifumi didn’t seem to notice her audience, and after paying for the meal, she was on her way off.

With a sigh, Queen got to her feet, startling Fox, who had dozed off somewhere along the way. “Well, Akechi-kun,” she said. Her voice was as steely as her mask looked. “I suppose you will continue to try to arrest us and try us as criminals?”

“I…” Goro held his tongue.

“Because if that is the case,” she continued, “I doubt our next meeting will be quite so cordial.”

Her words were harsh, but they lacked weight. Her posture made her seem tired more than anything else, like she was telling him this out of formality more than anything else.

“If you continue to act as criminals,” Goro said, getting to his feet as well, “then I will have no choice but to do so, yes.”

“You have a strong conviction,” Fox commented. “It is… admirable.”

They were at a stalemate now, thieves and detective, now that the person who had brought them temporary unity was gone. Goro took a step forward – saw Fox and Queen both flinch, tensing – and then he moved to the side, and past them, down the street. He didn’t look back, though he was undeniably curious as to the expressions on their faces.

It wasn’t important, though. He hadn’t been there to butt heads with the Thieves today; no, it was to support Hifumi, and he had done that. No need to push things any further, at least not today.

 

* * *

 

The last thing Goro expected was for Shido to call him into his office the next day.

He had been lax about reporting back to Shido, Goro supposed, and he was probably about to be reprimanded. It was hard to write a report when he felt he had nothing to say, however. Instead of fruitlessly guessing, he simply waited for Shido to initiate conversation.

For a long moment, he and Shido stared at each other without speaking. Then Shido tilted his monitor towards Goro, silently gesturing towards it. Goro leaned forward. He had pulled up a news article with a large picture showing a street that Goro didn’t recognize, with storefront walls covered in flyers. At the bottom of one poster, Goro thought he could barely make out a picture of a tiny little top hat.

“Children are not dolls,” some said, “Children are not property” – Goro thought these might be accusations against Hifumi’s mother, maybe something the Thieves cooked up sometime before Hifumi’s confrontation; others Goro recognized as older pieces, some from the first call-out the Thieves performed, back in Shinjuku.

“They’re making the news,” Shido said. “This is not progress.”

“Sir, I think – what I’ve discovered so far is that most of their pranks are of this same caliber,” Goro said. “It’s small-time vandalism and – and closer to bullying than anything else.”

“Pranks,” Shido repeated. “Has vandalism been demoted to a mere prank all of a sudden?”

“No, sir,” Goro said, “It’s just… I don’t feel it’s worth the time of the Special Investigations Department. They’re minor nuisances at best.” It was almost a surprise to hear the words come out of his mouth, Goro thought.

Shido’s face darkened. “You’re done with this case,” he declared. “Turn in your file and you can expect a new assignment tomorrow.”

“I – I beg your pardon?” Goro managed to splutter out.

“You’ve done nothing but waste resources and manpower. Then you allowed the situation to escalate on your watch. I assumed this case would be suitable for you; obviously, I was mistaken,” Shido said. Though his words were measured and professional, Goro saw the hint of a smile tug at the corners of his lips.

Goro didn’t really think Shido was the kind of person who enjoyed firing people, not really. Rather, he despised inefficiency in any form, and what he enjoyed was cutting off a weak link. Coupled with his general dislike of Goro, and he must have been absolutely delighted to have to tell Goro he was off the case.

“Of course,” Goro managed to say. “I shall gather my notes and deliver them to you immediately.”

Without waiting for a reply, he turned and left the room. If he stayed any longer, he wouldn’t be able to control his expression, and could feel his resolve crumbling by the second. It was late enough in the day that he didn’t feel any qualms about walking past his desk and right out the door.

Goro felt strange the entire trip home, and it wasn’t until he was sitting down for dinner, alone in his apartment, that he identified the particular emotions he was experiencing: relief.

He felt light, as if a tension he had carried on his shoulders was suddenly gone.

It was no longer his problem.

Though, he thought, tapping his fork against his plate idly, if Shido was planning on continuing the investigation, what would happen? If the Thieves were faced with a much stauncher advocate of the law, would they still be able to avoid arrest?

Goro was surprised to find his chest tightened at the thought. He recalled the delighted smile on Togo-chan’s face when she finished having lunch with her mother. It was a confident, sunny smile, the likes of which Goro wasn’t sure he had ever seen from her before.

It the Thieves elicited that kind of reaction from someone, could they really be all bad?

To be considering that kind of thought… Goro wondered if he was becoming fond of Joker, or of the Thieves in general, perhaps. It almost made him laugh, but the kind of awkward laugh that happens when you aren’t sure how to react to a given stimulus – a deflection laugh. Laugh it off, and you don’t have to worry about it anymore.

Yet, as Goro drifted off to sleep that night, he found himself feeling that while he may have been done with the case, the case was not yet done with him.

 

* * *

 

It was interesting to return to more ordinary cases. Not because the cases themselves were interesting – in fact, they were all routinely bland, and that was almost a welcome change for Goro. He felt like he was able to relax again, to think about things outside of work for a change.

The Phantom Thieves dropped completely off his radar for nearly two weeks when he approached his desk and noticed there was a little envelope on his desk that he didn’t remember being there before he left for lunch. It was pristine white and unmarked. Goro carefully tore it open and pulled out a single sheet of folded paper. It was immediately recognizable as the Phantom Thieves’ letterhead, with a short note written in the middle of the page:

“wanted to say sorry  
shujin roof @ 6:00pm?  
back door will be unlocked  
Joker”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All right so I'm just going to switch over to a two-week update schedule from now on, since my life likes to keep getting in my way. It will take a little longer to get where I'm going, but I think it will end up helping the story in the long run. 
> 
> Thanks as always for reading, and for your comments and kudos - they keep me going. ^_^


	9. Chapter 9

Goro turned the card over in his hand. It had been so many days since he last heard talk of the Phantom Thieves – though they had lingered on his mind much more frequently – that he had been genuinely surprised to receive such a note. The content was even more surprising – an apology, from Joker? It was pretty hard to imagine. Vague, too; it was perfectly crafted to grab Goro’s attention and pique his curiosity.

Of course, it could be a trap. It wasn’t like Goro had left the Thieves on the best terms during their last meeting… but what would they do? They weren’t the violent type, they had made good on their promise to help Hifumi, and furthermore, Goro had officially turned over all his case notes to Shido. His connection to the Thieves was all but completely gone, and he thought he would be perfectly justified in washing his hands from the whole situation and ignoring the note all together.

…except, the thought of throwing the card away made Goro inexplicably sad, as if he was discarding an opportunity before he even took the time to investigate. Joker had seemed surprisingly honest during those last few moments of conversation, and the more Goro thought back on their many interactions, the more clearly a pattern emerged. Joker wasn’t a bad person. He was cocky and he liked to make fun of Goro, but Goro realized he had never felt any malice from him.

Maybe that was just the kind of person Joker was. Not great at reading a person, to be sure, and perhaps a little self-centered, but looking at his actions instead of just his words revealed him to be a caring individual with strong conviction, albeit one with a flair for over-the-top theatrics.

So Goro decided he would entertain Joker’s request (maybe the last request he’d make of Goro)… he just wasn’t sure what to expect, and that set his nerves on edge. But by the time he considered backing out, he was already standing in the stairwell that led to Shujin’s roof, so it seemed silly to get cold feet. School was back in session for the fall now, but it was late enough in the day that most clubs were finished and the school should have been locked up, but true to the note, Goro found the back door to be unlocked. His only obstacle now was the rooftop door. He straightened his back and tried the handle, finding that it opened easily, even with a soft touch. He peered outside.

The sun had fallen below the horizon, throwing the roof into shadow, but even still Goro could tell that there was someone outside. Shujin’s roof looked just as dingy as it had been the last time Goro was here; the exterior walls were stained with dirt and time, the floor was weathered and dangerously smooth, and there was still a hodgepodge of discarded, broken classroom furniture strewn about – although it seemed someone had taken the time to clear some debris away to make room for… a tarp?

No, Goro realized, not just a tarp – a picnic blanket. Once Goro’s eyes adjusted to the light, it was easy to recognize the person sitting on top of the blanket as Joker, who looked comically out of place next to the pastel-colored tarp; his top was black and sleeveless, his slacks matte grey – he seemed more suited to the roof’s look of disarray than anything else. He was sitting with his legs pulled up against his chest, resting his chin on his knee, staring blankly at a point a few feet to Goro’s left.

The rooftop door creaked and groaned when Goro pushed it open, catching Joker’s attention. His eyes snapped over to Goro and he relaxed, letting his legs drop down into a more proper sitting position. “You… actually came,” he said, equal parts surprised and elated.

“Well,” Goro said, letting the heavy door fall shut behind him, “I wasn’t about to ignore such an important clue.”

“Of course,” Joker said. He made no motion to get up, and Goro surprised himself by taking a seat across from Joker, sitting crossed-legged on the blanket.

“So?” Goro asked. “What was it you wanted to say?”

Joker looked like he somehow hadn’t expected that question. “I, um… wanted to apologize,” he admitted. He was looking away, twisting a bit of hair between his fingers. “I was sort of… out of line.”

“You’ll need to be more specific,” Goro said, unable to help the smile that came to his face. It was nice to have the chance to tease Joker back, for once.

He seemed to take the jab in stride, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. “I don’t know, really. Everything?” Joker guessed.

“Hmm. That isn’t more specific,” Goro said, “but I suppose it’s a better answer than nothing.” There was a brief pause, and then Goro continued, “I have to ask. What’s the meaning of all this?” The blanket was the most obvious thing, but in addition to that, Joker had apparently brought food with him. Goro saw some pre-packaged bentos stacked up neatly to his side.

“Ah…” Joker shrugged. “I thought – I mean, an apology is better with food, right? You… probably don’t want to eat it, though. I forgot about the cupcake,” he said.

Goro clicked his tongue. “I lied,” he said.

Joker blinked.

“About the cupcake,” Goro explained. “I did eat it. I don’t know why I said I didn’t. I… wanted to hurt you, I suppose.”

Joker’s face changed into an expression Goro couldn’t place – mouth slightly open, neither a frown nor a smile. Then he laughed weakly. “Yeah? You did a good job,” he said.

“It was delicious, if it’s any consolation,” Goro said.

Joker paused as if he was considering Goro’s question seriously, and then nodded. “It is.”

“Well… it would be a shame to let your preparations go to waste, so shall we eat?” Goro asked.

“Yeah… yeah, let’s,” Joker said. He fumbled for the bentos and set them down in between himself and Goro, spreading them out into a fan shape. “Uh, your pick.”

Goro selected something that looked like it might contain grilled salmon. Joker took one of the remaining boxes and set the others aside, then brought out a pair of small thermoses. “It’s just water,” he said, “but I didn’t know what you’d like, and I figured this was a safe bet.”

“No, it’s fine. Thank you,” Goro said, accepting the thermos. For a moment, the only noise between them was the crinkling of plastic while they unwrapped their meals, until Goro asked: “Why are you doing all this, Joker? Why the theatrics?”

“Well, like I said, I thought you might be more receptive to my apology if I bribed you with food…”

“Not _this_ ,” Goro said, “I mean everything else. Setting up a group like the Phantom Thieves. The masks, the secrecy… why? It seems like a huge hassle, when there are legal routes already in place to help others. So why?”

Joker shrugged. He let the question hang for a moment while he popped a piece of beef in his mouth, chewing slowly. “I suppose I’d rather do things your way,” he finally said, “if I thought that I could. But I mean, you’ve seen the kinds of people we like to help. What could the police do?”

Goro sighed and stuffed a piece of fish into his mouth. "You know," he said in between bites, “I think I might understand why you’d say that now. What happened with Togo-chan… I’m glad for what you and the Thieves did. Her mother isn’t a bad person, but she was unable to see the harm she was doing to Togo-chan. It’s not a crime to misunderstand your children, but…”

“It’s not right,” Joker said.

“Precisely,” Goro said.

“And that’s pretty much it,” Joker said. “It’s _not_ a crime. Even if I thought I could go to the police here in Shibuya, I’m sure they would just laugh at me if I came to them with something like Hifumi’s problem… maybe even if it was Nakano-san’s problem.”

Goro frowned. “You feel you can’t come to the police here?” he asked.

Joker, however, barreled on as if he hadn’t even heard Goro. “The masks were just a convenience, a way to keep ourselves safe. It’s easier to go out on a limb to help someone if you know they won’t be able to retaliate against you in your personal life, y’know?”

“I suppose,” Goro said. It was nice to have Joker confirm Goro’s speculations – that the Thieves didn’t especially want to be working outside the law; they simply felt that they _had_ to. “I can see why you’d take that route. But, do you understand why I found your existence worrying?”

“Yeah,” Joker said. “I know it would be easy to abuse our anonymity. But that’s not the kind of people we are, I swear.”

“Yes… yes, I think you’ve convinced me,” Goro said. He took a long drink from his thermos while he considered the merits of telling Joker that someone new was working his case now. Joker had been very forthcoming so far, though, so Goro decided to return the favor. “You may be interested to know that I am no longer investigating the Phantom Thieves,” he said. “At least, not in a professional capacity.”

Joker’s eyes went wide. “What? Like… on purpose?”

Goro laughed. “If you’re asking whether it was my decision to quit the case, it was not. After Togo-chan’s arrest, the director decided I was unfit to handle the case any further and took it from me.”

“Oh,” Joker said. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be,” Goro said, waving his hand. “He was right; if I’m accepting invitations to meals from the leader of the criminal group I’m supposed to be investigating, I’m certainly unfit for the job.”

At this, Joker let out a loud, bright laugh. “Yeah… yeah, I guess so, huh?”

Goro found himself smiling; Joker’s laugh was infectious. “Although,” Goro said, his expression dropping, “I should warn you about the man leading the case now. His name is Shido, and he’s the director of the entire Special Investigations Department. He is… I doubt he will show you as much leniency as I have.”

Goro was looking at food while he was speaking, and if he had been looking at Joker instead, he may have noticed the way Joker tensed up. He quickly masked his shock, however, so that when Goro looked back at his companion, he was smiling confidently again. “Aw, you almost sound like you’re worried about me,” Joker said.

It was impossible for Goro not to roll his eyes. “Yes, something like that,” he said, shaking his head. “So… I suppose we aren’t enemies any longer. Not formally, anyway.”

“Friends, then?” Joker asked.

Goro laughed again. “Friends with someone who I wouldn’t even recognize walking down the street? I don’t even know your name.”

He had meant it to be something of a joke, but Joker’s face fell into a somber and serious expression. “Sorry,” he said, “I can’t tell you yet.”

“Yet,” Goro repeated. An odd word choice, with a future promise hidden within it. But Joker didn’t seem interested in expanding on that thought any further, and so the conversation dripped away with several of Goro’s questions left unanswered.

He assisted Joker in cleaning up their food scraps and folding the tarp into a neat square for Joker to carry back home, and then the pair got to their feet.

“Well, thank you, Joker,” Goro said. “For the apology, and the meal. It was… nice, to speak so candidly with you.” He turned to Joker. It was almost too dark to see clearly now, and Joker’s bright mask was the only thing clearly defined in the growing twilight. “Would you ever consider stopping? Dissolving the Phantom Thieves?” Goro asked.

“…yeah,” Joker said.

“What, really?” Goro asked. He had expected, at most, maybe a half-hearted consideration, not complete agreement.

“Really,” Joker said. “I think maybe we’ve done enough. I can’t speak for the others, but I know it’s given me a lot of confidence… I think I have the ability to stand up for someone now, even if I don’t have a mask to hide behind.”

“That’s good,” Goro said. “I sincerely hope you’ll be able to follow through with that.”

“And,” Joker cut in quickly, “I want you to know that I wasn’t joking. With the card, I mean. Panther doesn’t – she was wrong.”

A single statement, and the air around them suddenly seemed to crackle with energy. It was surprising that they had avoided that topic for as long as they had, honestly. Goro wasn’t going to bring it up, but now that Joker had… Goro couldn’t simply ignore him.

“Yes… I know,” Goro said.

The ambient noise from the streets below faded away, replaced with dull silence that stuffed itself into Goro's ears. When had they gotten so close? Goro backtracked mentally - no, they had always been just a few feet apart, but sitting on the ground with their food acting like a buffer had seemed perfectly ordinary; now Joker was so close that Goro could touch him without moving... if he wanted to.

Joker was showing remarkable restraint, shifting in place but otherwise unmoving. It was unlike his previous actions, very unlike a thief – he wasn’t going to try and take anything without Goro’s permission. Goro felt his pulse drumming quick under his skin.

It… it couldn’t hurt. Right?

Goro didn’t get the chance to do this very often. He probably _could_ have the chance, if he’d bothered to try and make a personal connection with someone, but who? His coworkers were all several years older than he was, and his classmates… ha, he’d be lucky if he saw them once or twice a week. So Joker… maybe Joker was just convenient. That would have been enough for Goro. But that seemed like a shallow way to interpret their relationship; it didn’t sit right in Goro’s mind.

Joker’s hands were full with leftover bento and picnic supplies, and Goro thought it would be awkward if he just leaned his head forward, so he placed a hand on Joker’s shoulder to steady himself and then moved in for a kiss, his eyes fluttering shut only after he had successfully found Joker’s lips with his own.

Soft. Different this time, now that Joker wasn’t leading things. But nice.

Goro felt himself growing shy incredibly quickly, and he stepped away after a few short seconds. Joker’s eyes opened slowly and for a moment, he looked stunned. Then his face blossomed into a lopsided smile.

“Don’t – don’t smirk like that!” Goro exclaimed. He turned away, thankful for the dim light that hid his reddened cheeks. “I still haven’t decided how I feel about this yet.”

“Well,” Joker leaned forward a bit, his arms clasped behind his back, “you don’t hate it, right?”

“I – I don’t want to discuss this right now,” Goro said. He turned around and made for the door, when he realized that Joker wasn't moving. “Are you leaving?” he asked.

Joker shook his head. “Nah, I’m gonna leave the way I came in,” he said, sticking out his thumb and gesturing over his shoulder.

“…fine, whatever you say,” Goro said. He didn’t want to know what Joker meant by that. It was late, and he needed to leave the school quickly, before any faculty members found him, or – god forbid – a police officer.

As he made his way down the stairs and out of the school, Goro nearly thought that the meeting hadn’t gone at all how he had expected, until he remembered that he’d had _no_ expectations – and Joker had surprised him anyway.

 

* * *

 

Days passed in relative peace. No news, no waves from the Thieves – not that Goro would be the first to know any longer – and Goro thought that maybe, maybe Joker had been serious, and really dissolved the group.

 _“I want to see him again, but how?”_ was a nagging thought in the back of his mind, one he tried to push aside; in addition to work, he had school to worry about again, which kept him busy. Thus, his fleeting thoughts of want only tended to show up late at night, when he was about to fall asleep, and disappeared by morning.

In short, things were normal, and Goro had no reason to expect today to be any different, until he walked into his office.

Something had happened, Goro could immediately tell. The atmosphere in the office was charged with a strange, tense energy. Everyone was acting aggressively _normal_ , as if they were avoiding drawing attention to something, something they steadfastly refused to talk about.

He asked a few coworkers about what was going on, first directly (to no avail) and then in a more roundabout way, but no one was falling for it. As such, Goro didn’t get to find out what it was until he returned from his lunch break, when he opened a desk drawer by chance and noticed a black-and-red card sitting on top of his pens. He could feel his heart sink. Quickly, he snatched the card out of the desk; it was blank on one side, but when he flipped it over there was a single-word note:

“sorry”

His mind kicked into overdrive. Something _had_ happened. He knew the note, unsigned though it was, had to be from Joker. It was a bit of a leap to connect this message to his coworkers’ odd behavior, but he had a hunch and he needed to follow through. He all but slammed the drawer shut and swiveled over to face his computer.

It wasn’t hard to find. Just a few minutes browsing local news sites led him to the ominous headline: “SID Director Assaulted, Hospitalized, at Hands of Local Gang”

Fuck.

Goro realized he hadn't seen Shido all day. His office door was closed - but it was  _always_ closed, so that wasn't necessarily a sign that something had happened... he clicked through and started to skim the article. The details were damning: Shido had been admitted to the hospital late last night, with the news breaking by mid-morning the next day, and what did the doctors find on his person? A calling card from the Phantom Thieves, just like the one Goro had in his hand.

There was a video attached to the article, with a thumbnail of a hospital room. Though his face was partly obscured by a “play” button, Goro was definitely able to recognize the man as Shido. The first half-minute of the video was of a woman standing outside a hospital, relaying the gist of the article, but then the video cut to a hospital room, where an unseen reporter was holding a microphone towards Shido’s face.

“We at the SID have been tracking their movements for some time,” Shido said, “and believe this attack to be retaliation – an attempt to scare us away from our investigation.”

This was definitely strange. It didn’t fit the pattern of the Thieves’ previous antics at all, and it came after so many weeks of relative quiet. If someone was using the Thieves’ name, a sort of copy-cat criminal, why did they wait so long? The general public had probably forgotten about the Thieves by now.

And Shido… Shido. Goro stopped the video on a close-up on the man’s face and took a moment to really look over his wounds. There was something almost _elegant_ about the way his lip was split right down the middle, his one eye swollen up and bruised. There were a few smaller lacerations on neck, but they were nondescript, and with the video quality, it was hard to tell if they had come from a specific weapon.

Goro let the video play again. Shido spouted some empty words about justice and safety, and then the interviewer asked about Shido’s wounds. The video cut to a photograph of Shido, his chest bare, revealing another nasty purple bruise on his side – a hint of a broken rib.

Wasn’t that convenient, Goro thought – a broken leg or arm would be obvious even to a casual viewer. Ribs, however, were hidden inside, and even a doctor would need an x-ray to verify if a break had actually occurred. Not that Goro thought Shido was lying… but Shido was almost certainly lying. The Thieves wouldn’t do something like this. Joker wouldn’t let them. If only he could find out what Shido had done with the Phantom Thieves’ case, but asking him was completely out of the question now. He had kicked Goro off the case for a reason, and with this… it was _highly_ unlikely he would be forthcoming with details now.

Goro felt his phone buzzing in his pocket. Pulling it out, he noticed he had not one, but three missed calls, and a voicemail. He recognized the number - it belonged to the television station he had worked for a few months back. With the latest news story, there was no doubt that the station director was fishing for another interview.

No doubt.

Goro sat back in his chair and closed his eyes. He couldn’t believe how seriously he was considering returning that call. It was insane, and almost certainly career suicide. Goro liked his work, and he liked his coworkers, mostly. Was it worth losing his job just to deal a blow to Shido’s reputation? Goro wasn’t sure…

But that wasn’t the only reason, was it?

Goro thumbed over the missed call and pressed, before he could talk himself out of it.

 

* * *

 

Two days later, Goro skipped work. He wasn’t an idiot; he knew Shido would have seen Goro’s interview, he knew Shido would be _furious_ , and that he was likely out of the hospital by now, which meant a confrontation at work was inevitable… so Goro just never went to the office.

It was nice, actually. He could have gone to school, he thought, but instead he slept in; such a luxury was a rarity for Goro now, and he had been doing so well at balancing work and school now that he was off the Phantom Thieves case – or at least, that’s how he justified it to himself when he turned off his alarm, rolled over, and slept for another two hours.

The morning passed at a leisurely pace, and eventually, he found himself at Leblanc.

And of course – _of course_ – the moment Goro stepped through the door, he heard his own voice.

“You truly believe the Phantom Thieves have nothing to do with the attack on Prosecutor Shido?” the bewildered host asked.

On screen, Goro’s face remained placid and serene – serious, but not grave. “That is correct,” he said. “This event would mark a significant departure from their previous actions, which have been wholly non-violent. Thus, this sudden escalation indicates that someone may be using the Phantom Thieves’ identity to mask their own.”

“And that’s why they still found a calling card at the scene of the crime?”

“Precisely – it is a very clear symbol associated with the Phantom Thieves,” Goro said. “It’s easy to assume they were responsible when such a clear calling card is present – but this just makes their image even more enticing to a would-be criminal.”

Why were they always watching this channel? Sakura-san didn’t seem like the type to care about keeping up with local politics. Goro sighed, but stepped inside anyway. Luckily, Leblanc was a little more crowded than the last time Goro had arrived; Kurusu was working alongside Sakura-san, and neither had seemed to notice him yet. He was able to slip into a seat at the counter largely unnoticed.

He wasn’t really hungry or thirsty, so maybe Leblanc wasn’t the best place for him to go… but he felt comfortable there. His apartment was starting to feel cramped, but he didn’t know where else he could go and feasibly avoid seeing anyone from work. He decided not to get Sakura-san or Kurusu’s attention, and instead retrieved a book from his attaché case. He had paperwork to look over, sure, but he wasn’t interested in doing that on his “day off”.

He had zoned out, heavily into his book, when a soft tapping noise caught Goro’s attention. He looked up and found Kurusu standing in front of him, drumming his fingers on the table. “Is something wrong?” he asked.

Goro looked puzzled. “I – I’m sorry?” he asked.

Kurusu brushed his hands over his apron, smoothing out the wrinkles. “You were just sighing,” he said. “It seems unlike you.”

“O-oh, um…” Goro said. “It’s… well,” he shrugged, and gestured vaguely at the TV screen, where Goro’s interview was just wrapping up. “But it’s nothing. Thank you for your concern, Kurusu.”

Kurusu hummed in agreement, glancing back at the TV. “That was bold of you,” he commented. “To speak out favorably for them, I mean.”

“Hmm, I suppose,” Goro said. “I simply spoke my true opinions.”

“Still,” Kurusu said. At the other end of the counter, the coffeemaker dinged, and Kurusu stepped away. Goro was just returning to his book when Kurusu returned and set a coffee cup down in front of him, a cup he did not remember ordering.

“Oh, this isn’t mine – I didn’t order…”

Kurusu shook his head. “Don’t worry. On the house.” He was looking away, downward, mussing with a cleaning rag.

“…thank you, then,” Goro said, and watched a tiny smile appear on Kurusu’s face.

Goro was able to hide his own growing smile behind his coffee cup, which he brought to his lips and held there, letting the steam waft over his face. Kurusu was… kind, Goro supposed. Shy, perhaps, but genuine – he really did care about his customers. It was cute. If Goro didn’t have Joker to think about, then maybe…

Wait.

Goro took an exceptionally large sip of his still very hot coffee, winced, and set his cup down with a sharp clack. Damn it, he couldn’t be thinking like that. _When_ had he started thinking like that? He just wasn’t sure…

By the time Goro finished his coffee, he had decided that was enough social interaction for the day. He thanked Kurusu and made a hasty exit, before his brain could supply him with any more treacherous thoughts.

 

* * *

 

When Goro arrived home again, he found he had received a text message. He had hoped to avoid any further conversation with other people today, but apparently someone had other plans.

 **> >Sae Niijima:** Are you feeling well, Akechi-kun?

Ah, that was just like Sae, Goro thought, and relaxed a little. She was always checking up on him. If it was her, he supposed he wouldn't mind talking for a while longer.

 **> >Goro Akechi:** Well enough. Is something the matter?  
**> >Sae Niijima:** Would it trouble you if I were to stop by? I have something for you.

Goro hummed. Something for him – an assignment, or maybe a pink slip. He grimaced, but it wouldn’t be surprising.

 **> >Goro Akechi:** That would be fine. When can I expect you?  
**> >Sae Niijima:** About an hour from now. I apologize for imposing.  
**> >Goro Akechi:** It’s no problem, Sae-san. I look forward to your visit.

Goro busied himself tidying up his apartment, which wasn’t terribly messy to begin with, until he heard a knock at his door. He greeted Sae and welcomed her into his home. She seemed particularly bedraggled today, Goro noted. Her usually-immaculate grey suit was lightly rumpled, and her eyes looked as though she hadn’t slept in some time.

“So,” Sae said, arms crossed. “I was under the impression that Shido had taken you off the Phantom Thieves case. Was I wrong?”

Goro felt a nervous pang run through his chest. There was no beating around the bush with Sae. “Ah… you saw that, did you?” he asked.

“Hard to avoid, given the press surrounding Director Shido’s injuries,” Sae said.

“How is Shido handling it?” Goro asked.

“His injuries or your interview?” Sae asked, and Goro gave a nervous chuckle. “He's out of the hospital, and the nurses stated that his injuries are not life-threatening provided he doesn't over-exert himself. You may be interested to know that the Director has asked me to handle the case regarding his assault,” Sae said.

“You?” Goro blurted out, and Sae gave him a look. “I – I apologize," he said quickly, "I didn’t mean to sound as if I was doubting your abilities, Sae-san. I just assumed this was something Shido would want to handle by himself.”

“Understandable; I thought the same thing,” Sae agreed. “As for your interview, well… it was probably a good idea for you to stay home today.”

“Wonderful,” Goro said with a sigh. “Have you come to serve me with a note of termination, then?”

Surprisingly, Sae shook her head. “No, not to my knowledge.” Sae retrieved a plain white envelope from her pocket and handed it to Goro. “Actually, I received this from Makoto. Someone from school gave it to her to deliver to you, and it was apparently urgent enough that she asked me for assistance.”

“Really?” Goro frowned, glancing over the unassuming envelope. It was sealed, but unmarked. “How curious. Thank you for taking the time to bring it to me, Sae-san. It’s much appreciated.”

“With all the goings-on today, I thought it would be good to pay you a visit,” Sae said, shrugging and casually brushing off Goro’s compliment. “At any rate, I can’t stay long. Will I see you at the office tomorrow?” she asked.

“Yes, I expect so,” Goro said. “My hope is that Shido’s temper will have cooled after a day, and I’ll be able to manage the fallout more easily.”

Sae gave him a sympathetic – but disbelieving – smile. “Hopefully so. I’m not sure how much help I’ll be able to give you, so try to watch your back, okay?”

“Of course; thank you, Sae-san,” Goro said. He walked her to the door and bade her farewell, and then Goro was left alone with his thoughts and an envelope.

If it wasn't a note from Shido firing him, what could it be? And something that came from Shujin, no less... Goro carefully broke the seal on the envelope and pulled out the letter that was hiding inside. It was a half-page piece of paper, typed out and embossed with a familiar looking top hat, reading:

“Thanks for standing up for us.  
Help us help you?  
We want to expose Shido-san’s lies.  
We’ll be in touch.

\-      The Phantom Thieves of Hearts”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi all - I hope you don't find this chapter too long, but there were several events I wanted to group together and it felt awkward to break it up. The end result was a little longer than usual, so I'd be curious to know how it felt compared to other chapters (if it was even noticeable?)
> 
> Thanks as always for reading! :3


	10. Chapter 10

Exposing Shido’s true personality was certainly something Goro would love to do – something he had dreamed of since he was a child, even – but it took on a different weight now that he had another group of people offering to help him out.

What would it even mean to expose his lies? Goro wasn’t even sure Shido was lying yet, though proving that was almost certainly just a formality. But… so what? Shido had hand-selected Sae-san to lead the investigation into his assault. There was no way she would have the same attachment to the Thieves as Goro did, and she could be ruthless when she wanted to be.

Goro almost hoped he wouldn’t see Joker or anyone else ever again. Even with their uncanny ability to blend in and avoid the eyes of the general public, it seemed dangerous for them to be running around in costume. It would only take one observant person to spot them and call in a tip to the police…

It was something that troubled Goro’s thoughts all the way until he reached his office for work that morning. There were two police officers stationed outside the front door – not an unusual occurrence – but as Goro gave them a simple wave in greeting, they suddenly moved closer together, and the officer closest to Goro held out his hand.

Goro stopped short. “Is something the matter?” he asked.

“Um,” the first officer said, shifting uncomfortably in place. He dropped his hand to his side. “Actually, we’ve been instructed to bar you from entry, Akechi-san.”

“Oh… is that so?” Goro asked.

“Yes,” the second officer confirmed. She had a less-apologetic, more businesslike tone of voice. “It’s not our call, but after your interview, and with the boss’ injuries…”

“Yes, yes, of course,” Goro said, holding his hand out and imploring her to stop. He felt detached from his body, like he should have felt outraged, but somehow, in the back of his mind, he had expected this. “I understand. Did Shido-san inform you of how long my suspension was to be?” he asked.

The first officer shot his companion a look. She shook her head.

“He didn’t say.”

“Right,” Goro said. He could feel his brows threatening to crease together, so he quickly relaxed his features and smiled. “Well, thank you. I shall just have to call back after a few days and see where I stand, then.”

He turned away and began walking, even as he heard the officers calling something after him, but he didn’t care to hear it. Yes, of course he wasn’t surprised by this, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t _irksome_. This was his job. He hated that Shido was still able to exert such a heavy influence over him, even here.

Perhaps it was time to look into a new place to work…

Well, that could wait for another time. At least he still had somewhere to go, he thought, as he made his way to school. He was able to get there early enough that classes hadn't even started yet, which he took to be a good sign. It would be nice to focus on schoolwork for once, and the monotony he associated with lectures almost seemed appealing today.

Yet he was unable to make it down even a single corridor before a teacher hailed him and dragged him off to an unused classroom. Goro didn’t even recognize the woman, but he had such a poor memory for the administration at his school, it wouldn’t have mattered much anyway. She could be the principal and he wouldn’t be any the wiser.

“Why are you here, Akechi-kun? You’re suspended,” she said.

“I’m – what?” Goro blurted.

Her expression changed, perhaps as she realized that she had completely blindsided him with this statement. “You’re under police investigation, aren’t you?” she asked, with something bordering on fear tingeing her voice. “That’s what the investigations’ director told us – he called us late last night.”

“…I see,” Goro said. He felt unable to say anything further – his brain was still trying to catch up to the present.

“At any rate, we don’t want to cause the students undue distress, so…” she trailed off, throwing a look out towards the hallway. “It won’t be a problem for you, right? You’re barely here as it is, and your grades are still impeccable. It’s just for the time being, of course, but…”

“Ah… of course,” Goro said. “Well… if that’s what the administration has decided, I shall respect your wishes.”

Mere minutes later, Goro was back on the street, walking… somewhere. His legs were moving, but he wasn’t consciously planning a destination. School had been his back-up plan, so where was he supposed to go now? Back home, he supposed…

Work, that had been understandable, but for Shido to call his school, that set Goro on edge. But even beyond that, he expected this kind of behavior from his father. The fact that his school simply agreed with him was the real surprise, like a punch to the gut.

Goro was plenty smart. He didn’t feel especially challenged by his schoolwork, to be sure, but he enjoyed the act of learning. It didn’t feel right for Shido to have him barred from his school. He could feel a familiar bubble of anger welling up in the pit of his stomach. He felt betrayed.

Goro crossed a particularly busy street and made his way to a less-crowded sidewalk, still lost in his thoughts. So lost, in fact, that he almost didn’t notice when something small and dark zipped out in front of him. Goro gasped and stopped short, holding one leg in the air so that he wouldn’t step on anything, or anyone. Looking up at him from the ground was a little black cat with jewel-bright blue eyes and a tail that looked like it had been dipped in cream. Curiously, it cocked its head to the side.

“Meow?”

Goro smiled at the creature, relief washing over him, and then he carefully stepped to the side and began to walk down the sidewalk again. He had taken no more than five steps, however, before the cat had caught up to him again.

“Ah!” Goro barely caught himself in time; the cat had darted out from behind him, winding between Goro’s legs. It looked up at Goro and meowed deliberately. “Persistent, aren’t you?” Goro asked. He stooped down until he was close to the cat and reached out to pet him. As soon as he did, however, the cat backed away, hopping gracefully to the right. It flicked its tail at Goro.

“You’re very demanding, but you don’t want to be pet?” Goro asked. He supposed he could relate to that. “Well, follow me if you wish, little cat,” he said, “but I can’t promise you’ll be allowed in my apartment.”

This seemed to placate the cat, which continued to follow him for a solid ten minute walk, meowing occasionally. Now that he didn’t have to worry about accidentally walking over the cat, Goro let himself walk home on auto-pilot. His thoughts were jumbled, a mix of dangerously emotional outbursts and mental pleas to calm down, breath, and think about things more carefully.

He could have taken the train, he supposed, but the weather was nice enough, and he was sort of enjoying this cat’s company. He _thought_ he had been enjoying it, anyway, but when he stopped at a crosswalk to wait for traffic, he looked around for the cat, only to find that it had disappeared.

Easy come, easy go, Goro thought. That saved him the trouble of having to shoo the cat away when he got to his apartment, though. The light blinked, and Goro was able to cross the street. He moved away from the commercial district and left most of the crowd behind, and he was passing by a quiet park close to a residential neighborhood when he heard the sound of heavy, quick footsteps. Goro paused and tossed a look over his shoulder, but no one was there. It was hard to pinpoint where the noise was coming from, until someone said:

“Oh shit, it _is_ you.”

The voice came from somewhere immediately to Goro’s right. He turned to look at the source of the noise, only to find it belonged to none other than Skull. It was definitely him, though he was dressed in a decidedly less flashy way than he usually did: matte colors, a plain red jacket, and a muffler-style scarf over his mouth and around his neck. There was definitely a hint of fall chill in the wind nowadays, but the summer heat was still much more overpowering, so seeing him wearing a muffler seemed… strange.

There was a soft rustling noise, and Goro noticed the same black cat from before step out of a bush and fall into place beside Skull’s feet.

“Is this your cat, then?” Goro asked, in lieu of greeting.

“Huh? Oh, him. Nah,” Skull shook his head. “If anything, he belongs to Oracle, I guess… but he’s not, like, a pet. What’d she call him? A… a familiar, or whatever.”

Goro swore the cat puffed out its chest when Skull said that.

“Anyway,” Skull said, “shouldn’t you, like, be in school or something?”

“…shouldn’t you?” Goro asked.

Skull shrugged. “Dunno. This is more important.”

“It’s the same for me, then,” Goro said.

Skull turned a wary eye towards Goro, like he was sizing him up, and then nodded. “Yeah, all right,” he said, waving his hand and motioning for Goro to follow him. “Anyway, a couple of us are havin’ a meeting about what we’re gonna do now, and you’re invited, I guess. That’s where I’m going, so… y’know. Do whatever you want.”

He turned on his heel, stepped over the bushes behind him, and started to walk away. He was forcing Goro to make a snap decision, but it wasn’t as if he had anywhere else to be, and so Goro began to follow Skull, taking a longer loop around to avoid the bushes and jogging slightly to catch up. The trio walked in silence; Skull seemed uninterested in conversation, and now that the cat was with someone familiar, he seemed to have quieted down.

They wound their way through the park, passing the most public areas – a playground, a small community building – as Skull led the way back into a less developed area. They were following a path that was nearly invisible thanks to an abundance of grass and sprawling vines, things that would have been taken care of if the path was more frequently used.

Eventually they stepped off the path entirely, with Skull leading the way towards a dilapidated old building just a few yards off. It had been taken over by moss and kudzu for several years from the look of it, and there were patches of rust dotting the exposed parts of the walls.

The cat broke into a sprint and leapt out ahead of them, turning to the side and ducking through a small opening at the bottom of one of the walls. Skull went for the door instead. The shed had a pair of doors, the kind that could slide open to the left and right, but there was a large padlock looped around each of the handles. One tug from Skull, however, and the padlock came unlocked. He pulled it out from between the handles, kicked one of the doors open, and strolled inside.

Goro followed. Inside, the shed looked about like he had expected: complete disarray and neglect. There were shelves built into the walls, all of them covered in junk, things Goro didn’t recognize, but he could only assume it used to be tools for grounds maintenance. There was a broken lawnmower in the back corner and several piles of… something… that were covered by tarps.

All in all, it made for a very cramped little space, but not so cramped that you couldn’t gather a few people inside, which is what the Thieves had apparently decided. Admittedly, not everyone was there, just Queen, Panther, and Skull, and now Goro and the cat, who was curling around Panther’s waist and begging for pets. Collectively, it was a little claustrophobic.

“All right, you’re here!” Panther said, smiling.

“Indeed I am,” Goro replied. He looked around the little room. Queen and Panther were both sitting on top of a relatively stable looking tarp, but Skull had chosen to stay standing, arms crossed over his chest while he shifted his weight back and forth. Goro slid the door shut behind him and decided he would stay standing, as well.

“I’m glad,” Queen said. “Now we might be able to make some real progress.”

Goro nodded. Their expressions had brightened noticeably since he arrived, but there was a nagging question that Goro felt he had to voice, even if he already knew the answer. “I hate to ask,” he said, “but… you _didn’t_ attack Shido-san, right?”

“No way!” Panther exclaimed, loud and sudden enough to startle the cat. “What reason could we possibly have to attack him?”

“Well…” Queen began to say. Her eyebrows jumped up and she immediately shut her mouth, but the thought had already been expressed.

“Well?” Goro prompted.

Queen looked uncomfortable, but Panther prodded her gently in the side and nodded. “That man…” Queen said slowly, “That man is the reason we formed the Phantom Thieves in the first place,” she said.

Goro blinked. He wanted to gasp, or say something, but he could tell by Queen’s body language that that may be imprudent. “Really?” he finally settled for asking.

“I don’t know the details of their history,” Queen said, “but I do know that when Joker saw the news report, he was visibly distressed. More than I’ve ever seen.”

“Yeah, it was weird,” Panther said. “He’s never that serious, so it’s one of those things where we knew it had to be important.”

“Was it before or after he, um… became Joker?” Goro asked.

“Before,” Skull said. “But that still doesn’t mean we attacked him!”

“Yeah, that is _so_ not our style,” Panther agreed.

“Yes,” Goro said, “that was my thought as well. The question, then, is who attacked him, and why he’s blaming the Phantom Thieves instead.”

“Do you have any theories behind Shido’s motives?” Queen asked.

Goro shook his head. “I’m not sure… he recently demanded I step away from researching you all, and turn the case over to him,” he said. “It wouldn’t surprise me if he had some sort of motive, but as to what it could be, I have no idea. It’s not as though the Thieves have gotten an excessive amount of media attention, and little of it has been negative.”

“Is there any possibility that he has discovered our identities, based on your case report?” Queen asked.

Goro had to think for a moment. “Unlikely,” he finally decided. “I had made little progress in that regard, and I can’t imagine he was able to figure it out, either.”

Queen sighed, folding her hands tightly in her lap. “Well, that’s good, at least. Though, it would be best if we could get some more information on Shido, and what he intends to gain out of this whole incident.”

They sat in a brief, contemplative silence.

“Can’t you like… I dunno, sneak into his office and dig up some dirt?” Skull asked.

Goro frowned. “Unfortunately, it would seem that the answer is no, not now that I’ve been unofficially suspended from work,” he said.

Panther gasped. “What, because of that interview?” she asked.

“It’s not something he’s said outright,” Goro said, “but given the timing, I can’t imagine any other reason.”

“That’s some bullshit,” Skull muttered.

“Well, he _was_ speaking out against his own boss. Insubordination is a valid enough reason for suspension…” Queen said. It was annoying to think about, but Goro knew she was right. It didn’t matter if Goro thought he was in the right – he could still be punished for attempting to undermine his boss.

“Whatever,” Skull said, shrugging. “Anyway, who cares? You’re not suppose’ta sneak into his office _anyway_ , so like… just do it?”

“I do have a key to the office,” Goro admitted, “but I don’t know what to look for. He keeps his office under lock and key.”

“Does he have a computer that stays in his office?” Queen asked.

“He does,” Goro said, “but it’s certainly password locked, and I don’t know if I could guess it.”

“That’s not really a problem,” Panther said, waving a hand. She looked between Queen and Skull, and a spark of energy passed between them, as if a silent conversation was being had. “Do you think you can get inside without being caught?” she asked Goro.

“I could,” Goro said. “You sound as though you’ve thought of something.”

“We… might be able to throw something together,” Panther said. She had a barely-contained smile on her face. “Just to get some information – y’know, the stuff Shido doesn’t want us to find.”

“It would take some time to prepare,” Queen said. “But no more than a day or two. Is there a way we could contact you – an e-mail?”

Skull and Panther were buzzing with excitement now, talking in hushed but vibrant whispers while Goro found a small scrap of paper on which to write his e-mail. Then they were shooing him out of the shed, promising to explain more soon and wishing him well, slamming the door shut again once he was outside.

 

* * *

 

A few days later, Goro was walking to work. Not going to work, but walking there; it was just past sunset and getting dark fast, and the reality of what he was about to do was finally sinking in as walked, casually, down an alleyway just under a block away from the office.

The Thieves had sent him a cryptic e-mail, saying they had a plan that they couldn’t put into writing (he didn’t blame them for being paranoid), but instructing him to meet up with Joker one evening to, quote, put the plan into motion. Goro had tried to reply, but found that his email bounced almost immediately. It was sketchy, and he couldn’t be sure it was even them… but leaving Joker to break into the special investigation’s department alone would be disastrous.

So Goro did as he was told, and true to their word, he found Joker there, dressed in black, waiting patiently.

“We just need to get this USB plugged into Shido’s computer,” Joker explained, holding up a thumb drive, “and it’ll run a program and rip a bunch of files. Like… everything, I think,” he said.

“You seem to really know what you’re talking about,” Goro said.

“I… I didn’t make it,” Joker said, kicking some dirt on the ground. “I’m just trusting what Oracle said, okay?”

Goro laughed, and Joker laughed too, alleviating some of the tension in Goro’s shoulders. They made small talk for a few minutes before Joker’s phone buzzed.

“Okay, we’re good to go – let’s move,” Joker said, shoving his phone back into his pocket, and together they walked briskly back to the office. Goro hesitated for a brief moment, his eyes flickering up to the security camera, but he had to trust in Joker’s secret assistant; besides, this wasn’t the first time Goro had seen them block the security cameras, so he knew they could do it.

He strode up to the door and Joker stepped aside, letting Goro pull out his key and unlock the door easily. Goro locked the door again once they were inside, and then he led the way to Shido’s office, only to find that this door, too, was locked.

“I’ve got this one,” Joker said, shoving a hand into one of his many jacket pockets, fishing around and eventually retrieving a small, thin piece of metal, which he inserted into the lock. It took less than a minute of fiddling before Goro heard a soft but distinct “click”, and Joker tried the door handle. The knob twisted and turned, and Joker was able to push the door open without resistance.

As they walked inside, Goro noticed Joker looking at him with a small grin. Things had been going smoothly so far, so Goro thought it would be fine to indulge him, just for a minute. “Well done,” Goro said. “You pick up quite an interesting skill set in your line of work, don’t you?”

Joker hummed in delight, already on his way over to the computer. “And that’s just the beginning,” he said.

Goro shut the door, flipped the lock, and then moved to join Joker behind Shido’s desk.

“So, let’s just turn this on…” Joker said, mostly to himself, stooping down to get at the computer case. “Tell me when it’s up,” he said.

Shido’s computer was probably the nicest in the office, but it still wasn’t _that_ nice, and the booting up process took nearly a minute. Finally, Goro was able to say: “All right, it’s up.”

He heard the sound of metal on metal as Joker slid the USB into its port. The program, whatever it was, took effect almost immediately, filling in a password and bringing up Shido’s desktop in seconds. Shortly thereafter, a progress bar popped up.

“Now we just have to wait,” Joker said.

They stood up and stared at the bar, watching it fill up tick by tick, mind-numbingly slow. Goro was starting to feel tense. Things had been fine up until now, sure, but this was starting to feel decidedly illegal, and the longer it dragged on, the more Goro wanted to abort the mission.

Somewhere, distantly, Goro heard the sound of a door closing.

He froze. It was so, so quiet; there was no way he had imagined it, but at the same time, he was so on edge that it could have been a product of his imagination. But when he looked at Joker, he saw the same panicked expression that must have been on Goro’s own face.

Goro crept over to the door. There were no windows looking into Shido’s office, but he did have a peep hole, which Goro peered through. It was terribly dark, but nonetheless he could see there was, without a doubt, someone in the office.

“Damn it,” Goro hissed. “Someone’s here.”

“How?” Joker asked, his voice barely above a whisper. He was bent over the desk, staring intently at the screen, willing the program to finish faster. “I know we blocked the security cameras.”

“We could have tripped a silent alarm,” Goro suggested. He squinted, trying to get a better look at the intruder. They weren’t headed towards Shido’s office, not yet anyway; instead, they were creeping around towards the copy room, as if making a thorough sweep of the area. It was someone who knew where to look, someone who knew the office layout.

“We have to leave,” Goro said, craning his neck to look over his shoulder at Joker. “Please tell me it’s finished.”

“Soon, hold on,” Joker promised. Several long seconds passed. “Okay, we’re good,” he announced, ripping the USB from the computer and nearly punching the power button.

“It doesn’t matter,” Goro said, his eye pressed against the peep hole again. “They’re coming this way – _damn it_ – and we’re at a dead end.”

His mind was racing as fast as his pulse. It would be disastrous if someone found him stealing information from Shido’s office; combined with the investigation, it would be enough to land Goro some jail time, he thought… but if Joker were caught, it would put another four or five people in jeopardy, too.

“Akechi,” Joker said.

Now, if the person outside the door was not Shido, then they might not have a key to the office, which would buy them some time. They might even leave altogether, since Shido’s door was _always_ locked – that wouldn’t be suspicious. But if it WAS Shido…

“Akechi,” Joker repeated, louder this time. Goro turned. “Close your eyes for a second, okay?”

Goro shot him a bewildered glare. “You need to be serious,” he said.

“I am,” Joker said. “I can get us out of here, it’s just… I need to take off my mask.”

There was another long, heavy silence, while Goro tried to decide if Joker was fucking with him or not. He thought he could hear footsteps.

“Please,” Joker said, all but begging.

Goro sighed, and shut his eyes.

He heard a soft rustling noise, and then there was a hand on his shoulder. “Okay,” Joker said, “open your eyes and come on, we need to move.”

Goro opened his eyes, and found himself staring at a door... Shido's door? He looked to the side. No, the office door was still very much there, but now a new door was standing on the western wall, like it had always been there, and Goro just couldn’t see it.

That wall had always been blank, he recalled, no pictures, no bookcases, until now – until Joker was opening a _door_ and waving at Goro impatiently, urging him to follow. Goro took a step closer. He couldn't see a thing behind the door; it was pitch black. But Joker was already inside, and so Goro followed him past the threshold and into the darkness.

Once they were through, the door swung shut, whisper-quiet.

It was impossibly dark inside, without a single light source to be had. Goro only knew Joker was there because he could hear his breathing, and because he was aware of object permanence, and knew that Joker hadn’t disappeared just because Goro couldn’t see him anymore.

Yes, Goro liked to think of himself as rational.

But faced with the inky blackness stretching out infinitely before him, he couldn’t help but tremble. He wasn’t sure what was preferable – being caught in Shido’s office, or being here.

“So,” Joker’s voice was soft and yet it cut through the silence like an air horn, loud and very close. “We’re probably safe now, but we should get moving. I’ve never lingered by a door for a long time, and I mean – I really don’t think that guy will be able to find the door, but…”

“Go,” Goro repeated dumbly. “Go where?”

“…oh,” Joker said after a moment. “Right. Um, I’ll take you there. Just – just hold onto me, okay?

Goro reached out blindly, and Joker moved to meet him, taking one of Goro’s hands in his own and placing in on his shoulder. Then, Joker took a step forward. Goro tried his best to keep pace with him, but his legs were shaky and he took every step hesitantly, as if he was one step away from – what? It could be anything.

“How,” Goro finally said when he found his voice again, “How can you… how do you know where we’re going?”

“Mask,” Joker said simply. “It let me see the door, and lets me see in the dark, too.”

“This is how you got into the office,” Goro said, a statement more than a question. "That first time, when you took Nakano's documents."

“Maybe,” Joker said, the sound of a smile in his voice.

“We didn’t come in this way today, though,” Goro noted.

“I mean, you have a key to the office,” Joker said. Goro could feel his shoulders shrug under his hands. “That’s a little easier, isn’t it?”

They walked for an unknowable amount of time. Goro couldn’t decide if he should keep his eyes open or shut, as there was no difference between was he saw either way. It was more comfortable to keep his eyes closed, he decided, but it was too hard to go against his instincts – that is: he was walking, he needed to see _where_ he was walking, and so he needed to keep his eyes open, and see - even if that was impossible.

He did not know how long they walked. He didn’t bother trying to keep track. He just focused on putting one foot in front of the other, his fingers surely digging into Joker's shoulders with how tightly he was holding on... And then, after a long, long time, Joker stopped and turned around in place. Goro felt immediately wobbly; he didn’t like it that his one stabilizing force was gone now.

“Hey, Akechi-kun,” Joker said. "Give me your hand.”

“What? Why?” Goro asked, but he held his hand up anyway, reaching out until he bumped into Joker’s chest.

He felt Joker take his hand and pull it close – towards his face, Goro realized, as he guided Goro’s fingers to his cheek. He brushed his fingers against Joker’s skin, trying to ascertain what exactly Joker was getting at here, until he noticed a distinct absence.

Joker had taken off his mask.

“Th… that’s not helpful, Joker.” Goro laughed softly. He brought his other hand to Joker’s face, moving slowly so that he wouldn’t accidentally poke Joker in the eye or anything, until he had cupped Joker’s face with both of his hands.

Of course he wouldn’t show Goro his real face, not unless there was literally no way for Goro to truly see it; so he did his best to see him through touch. Goro rubbed the pads of his thumbs along the soft skin beneath Joker’s eyes, let his fingers press back until they were tangling into Joker’s hair and fluttering across his temples. He could feel Joker’s lips lift into a smile.

How close were they? In the dark, it was impossible to tell. Goro thought he was leaning forward, maybe unintentionally, still shaky on his feet, and pulling Joker closer, as well. It was only confirmed when his lips brushed against the corner of Joker's mouth, just barely off target. Joker tilted his head a bit and leaned into the kiss, his hands falling to Goro's side, holding him steady. 

Goro pulled back, just slightly, and sighed against Joker's lips. “Joker," he said, "I… I appreciate it, but… please tell me we’re almost out of here."

“R-right,” Joker stammered. He stepped away, breaking contact entirely. “Sorry, we’re here. The mask, it’s a key, so just – just give me a second.”

Joker did something in the dark, and then there was a sliver of light – nightlight, but still so incredibly bright compared to where they had been that Goro had to shield his eyes, stumbling out the newly-formed door. They were... somewhere. Somewhere in Shibuya, certainly; it wasn't unfamiliar to him, but he wasn't sure where he was, exactly. Goro patted down his pocket and was comforted by the presence of his phone. He'd be able to find his way home - he was just glad to be out of that _place_.

While Goro was getting his bearing, Joker had retrieved the USB from his pocket, and he was nodding at it. "This is good. I'm gonna - I'll get this to Oracle," he said, turning to face Goro. "Thanks for this, Akechi," he said. His voice was warm and honest, for once. "I... really, really hope we'll find what we need on here."

 _Yes,_ Goro thought as he forced himself to complete the walk home, _I hope so, too._


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone, I just wanted to say up front: thanks for being so patient for this chapter. Seasonal allergies hit me something fierce this year, worse than ever, and trust me when I say you wouldn't want to read the draft of this chapter I composed while on allergy meds. -_- Next chapter should be on time, however, so I hope you continue to enjoy! ^_^

* * *

 

Goro didn’t think of himself as a person who tended to get bored easily, but he was starting to wonder if perhaps that was because he’d never run out of interesting things to do before. Now, without work, without school, he found himself deeply listless and hating it.

To be fair, he _was_ expecting a call – or something like that – and so he felt compelled to stay near his laptop, checking his messages every few minutes even when he knew there was nothing new. In fact, no one had contacted him since his break-in, not the Thieves or Shido or anyone from the police department, which left him feeling cautiously optimistic. It seemed he and Joker had managed to slip away completely unnoticed, thanks to Joker’s quick thinking and his… well, Goro was still trying to wrap his head around the other details of their escape.

Although perhaps they hadn’t gone completely unnoticed, Goro corrected himself. No doubt Shido would have realized by now that someone had tampered with his computer, no matter how sophisticated Oracle’s program was. But again, there were no police officers knocking on his door, so Goro chose to think positively.

Eventually he forced himself to leave the house and take care of a few chores, wasting a handful of hours away on something he could at least classify as “productive”, and when he returned home, he fell into a quiet trance, sitting at his desk and idly clicking through news websites, reading without really absorbing any information. Night fell without Goro’s notice, not until he felt hungry enough to get himself something to eat and he noticed that the room was dark, lit only by the glow of his computer screen.

His legs were stiff as he pulled himself up out of his chair, making his way to the kitchen and turning on a light in the process. When he returned to his desk, sandwich in hand, he found a notification waiting on his screen: he had received an invitation to join a voice chat room – two, in fact, one of which had expired while he was out of the room. The username was nonsense, just a string of numbers and letters.

It was something that under ordinary circumstances he would have simply ignored, or blocked, if necessary. He could count the number of times he had spoken with someone online in a non-work capacity on one hand. _Given_ the circumstances, however, Goro slid into his seat, pulled his headphones on, and accepted the call.

“Helllloooo? Is that you, Akechi?” a voice blared into his ears as soon as the call connected.

Goro winced and turned his volume down a few ticks. “Yes, it’s me,” he said.

“Finally,” the same person said. “Hangin’ up on me, sheesh…”

“I was away from my computer,” Goro said with a huff, only slightly embarrassed by how indignant he sounded.

“Whatever, at least it got through,” she said. Goro closed his eyes and listened. This person, the one who had greeted him, this was someone he’d never heard before… probably. It was hard to tell without a face, even a bemasked face, but her voice, her pep, it didn’t gel with Goro’s mental images of any of the Thieves he knew.

Looking over the chat room, he saw six occupants other than himself, each with similarly-gibberish usernames but distinct avatars. “Who all is here?” he asked.

“Everyone, but Fox doesn’t have a mic, so he’s just listening,” a different person said. His username lit up while he spoke, but even without his avatar – a fancy, stylized letter “J” – Goro thought he’d recognize him as Joker. “I’m glad we could get through to you,” he added.

“Okay then,” a brusque-sounding woman cut in to say. Between her tone and her avatar, a minimalist grayscale crown, Goro suspected this was Queen speaking. “He’s here now, so can we start going over what you’ve found, Oracle? It’s making me anxious just thinking about it…”

“Yeah, yeah,” the first girl replied. Ah, so this was Oracle, the person Joker trusted to disable security cameras for him. She must have been sharing her screen with the chat, because Goro’s screen blinked and suddenly it was displaying a stranger’s desktop. Oracle sighed into her microphone. “You guys aren’t going to like this,” she said.

“Don’t just _start_ with that,” someone disgruntled muttered.

“Okay, you want me to start with this instead?” Oracle asked, pulling up a photograph. There was a brief moment of silence while everyone absorbed the image in front of them, and then…

“ _Fuck_ ,” Skull said.

It was a photograph of several of the Thieves having a chat on the outskirts of a deserted parking lot. Unlike the pictures Goro and Hifumi had managed to snag, though, this one was perfectly crisp and focused. Thankfully, it seemed to have been taken from quite a distance; it would still be hard to identify them from this picture alone.

“And this, too,” Oracle said, clicking over to a new photo, this time of a letter, which Goro immediately recognized as the letter Sae-san had given him – the letter from the Thieves.

“Well,” Goro said after a moment. “That is troubling.”

“I’m not sure which one we should be more worried about,” Joker said. Based on how calm he sounded, Goro wondered if Oracle hadn’t shared the photos with him beforehand. “The fact that he managed to get a shot of us is more worrying long-term, but…”

“Yeah,” another female speaker – Goro suspected Panther – agreed. “Like, it’s super creepy that he’s got that pic of us, but the fact that he saw the letter? He might know what’s going on…”

“I received that note directly from Sae-san, and it was sealed when she gave it to me,” Goro told the group. “For him to have this picture, he must have gone through her belongings at some point, and re-sealed it before it was given to me.”

“That’s… pretty bad, right?” Panther asked.

“It is,” Goro said. Sae-san was leading the investigation into Shido’s assault, and if he was already snooping through her belongings, there was no telling how he’d try to influence her investigation, with or without her knowledge.

“There’s one other thing I found that’s got me worried,” Oracle said. This time, she dropped something into the chat. “I pulled this from his browser history,” she continued. “It’s a bunch of e-mails between Shido and some politician. Looks like he’s already taking advantage of all this.”

Goro clicked on the link, which prompted him to download a file. Once it loaded, he found a collection of screen shots, nearly a dozen in total, from an address that Goro thought must have belonged to Shido. It wasn’t his work e-mail – he wouldn’t be so foolish as to leave such a strong paper trail – but the curt, vaguely intimidating style of writing was distinctly Shido in nature. Oracle must have had to dig around for this.

There was a lot of information to take in all at once, but the gist of it seemed to be that Shido had been in contact with a politician named Ooe. The messages were brisk and professional, and stark on details. Perhaps it could have been explained away as a local politician checking in on an injured public servant... however, after a quick search for Ooe’s name online, Goro wasn’t so sure about that.

He wasn’t anyone special or influential, but elections were coming up, and it seemed he was hoping to change that. Shido’s hospitalization had rattled the public, and Ooe was using the event as a springboard to push his political platform. Kids today don’t have enough accountability, he explained, and this event was just proof that an idle youth would turn to violence to get their kicks.

“Well,” Joker said, startling Goro out of his thoughts, “I think it’s pretty clear that’s his end goal. Fabricate a threat to the public to help his buddy get elected.”

“Wonder if he even cares about the laws n’ shit,” Skull muttered, “or if he’s just doin’ it for the cash.”

“You think he’s getting paid off?” Oracle asked.

“Oh definitely,” Skull said. “I mean. Right?”

“It wouldn’t surprise me,” Goro said. “That, or Ooe is promising him some degree of political sway.”

“Do you suppose he was planning on baiting us by arresting Akechi-kun?” Queen, who had been notably quiet up until now, wondered aloud. “Obviously he knows we’ve been in contact, and if he believed we were collaborating, then… after arresting Akechi, he could use him as leverage to get to us.”

“You mean like blackmail?” Skull asked.

“That’s what the photo of the letter leads me to believe,” Queen said. “He wouldn’t have a reason to document it otherwise.”

Goro frowned. “I’d like to hope you wouldn’t fall for such a ruse,” he said.

No one had anything to say to that.

“So…” Panther said at last, “What do we do? We can’t just leak this information to Sae-san.”

“Huh? Why not?” Skull asked.

“It was obtained illegally,” Goro explained. “It wouldn’t be admissible in court.”

Something hit Skull’s microphone, making a dull thumping noise, followed by: “What the hell? Why’d we even steal it, then?”

“Well,” Oracle said, “at least now we know what he’s planning, probably.”

“I’m tired of always being reactionary,” Joker said, with a note of barely-concealed frustration in his voice. “We need to make the next move and gain some momentum.”

He was right, of course, but as the group lapsed into silence, it was clear that no one knew exactly what that next step should be. Even Goro was stumped; without a stream of information from the investigations’ office, he lacked the vantage point he’d had up until now.

“You know…” Queen began, slowly, unsure of herself, “There comes a point when _how_ the evidence was acquired stops being important. Certainly it wouldn’t be admissible in court, but… once seen, it’s impossible to erase something from the public’s mind. If we could just tap into that power, somehow...”

“You’re suggesting that instead of trying to influence the investigation directly, we try to sway public opinion?” Goro asked.

“Something like that,” she said.

Goro hummed thoughtfully. “Then,” he said, “Hear me out. I may have something in mind.”

 

* * *

 

Out of everything Oracle had found, the e-mails between Shido and Ooe ended up being their greatest boon, because it gave them another angle to investigate. There were plenty of articles reporting on Ooe’s reaction to Shido’s injury, many of which went into detail about his plans for stopping the obviously real and growing teenage menace that was plaguing the streets of Shibuya.

Specifically, they found that he was already working on increasing police presence in the evenings – not, strictly speaking, a curfew, but more like an active deterrence against any would-be punks. This only solidified Goro’s conviction that Shido really knew nothing about the Thieves, who usually worked during the daylight hours.

Still, it would work out in their favor. If they wanted to reveal Shido’s true nature to the public, then they needed an in, a way to catch Shido outside of his public persona, something that would seem organic, unstaged. With the increased police presence, their path was clear: Goro just needed to be caught – and it had to be Goro. Anyone else would have to be forcibly unmasked, and even if their plan worked as they hoped it would – by bringing the public to favor the Thieves – it would still be safer this way.

Goro was already a public figure, and a well-liked one at that. Who knew how Shibuya would react to seeing a real Phantom Thief, someone they could very well consider to be guilty, regardless of their opinion on Shido.

“I don’t love this plan,” Joker had said, but there were no better suggestions, and so not two days later, Goro was on the street, ready to set their things into motion. Night was falling earlier and earlier, and there was a cold note to the wind that caught under Goro’s jacket and made him shiver. Or perhaps he was simply nervous, he thought, as he passed a police officer on the street – the second one he had seen tonight.

He turned right at the next intersection he hit, wandering aimlessly. The Thieves had point-blank refused to give him a phone number to contact – allegedly in case his phone was bugged, though Goro had his doubts about that explanation – and so he was simply walking, waiting to run into one of them, or else for the police to simply stop Goro as he was.

It was dark enough that Goro was having trouble seeing far ahead when he felt a hand come to rest on his shoulder, and a voice behind him softly called out, “Hey”. Goro jerked back, but managed to compose himself before he reflexively hit Joker in the face. “Shh, it’s me, it’s me,” Joker said, hurriedly retracting his hand.

“Do you ever think about what you’re doing before you do it?” Goro asked, but there was no malice to his voice. He sighed, and ran a hand through his hair. “It’s fine. Have you heard from the others?”

Joker nodded and pulled his phone out of his pocket. “They’ve definitely noticed an increased police presence, but no one’s really paying us any attention. Almost like the officers are reluctant to do their job.” Joker shrugged. “Well, that’s what Queen said, anyway.”

“I can’t imagine they’re enjoying the overtime much,” Goro said.

Joker shoved his hands into his pockets, and they started off down the street together. For a time, they both simply walked side-by-side in the growing twilight, hoping their combined presence would be enough to elicit police attention.

They did this to little effect. Perhaps Joker’s aura of disinterest was too strong, but by the time they passed their third police officer – a man in plainclothes that Goro only knew as an officer because he recognized him personally – Goro was starting to lose patience. “This won’t do,” he said to Joker. “We need to get their attention somehow.”

The streets were largely quiet tonight, even after they made an effort to go somewhere more public. Goro could see people mingling in the restaurants and bookstores they passed, but everyone was keeping to themselves and paying them no mind.

When they reached the edge of the sidewalk, they stopped. Across the street, they could still see the plainclothes officer, lazily shifting from one foot to the other. Behind them was a neighborhood, and back to the left, the street wound around and continued on to another shopping district. Joker glanced around before making a beeline for an overflowing trashcan just a few feet from where they were standing. He snagged a glass bottle from the top of the pile, weighed it in his hand, and then hurled it against the building beside them, where it shattered with a surprisingly loud crack.

Goro stared at him, and Joker simply offered a shrug in return. Out of the corner of his eye, Goro could see he officer’s attention shift their way.

“Better, I suppose,” Goro said. “Let’s move.”

They picked up their pace and made their way to the left, passing beside the unused, unmarred side of the shopping plaza they had just walked through. As they did so, Joker pulled out his phone; Goro could hear it buzz. Joker tapped out a clumsy reply, but before he could stow his phone away, it buzzed again.

“They’re moving,” Joker said. A quick look to the side, and yes, Goro could see movement. That was probably the officer they just saw, given how close he already was. Before Goro could take another step forward, Joker threw out his arm and caught Goro around the waist. “Up ahead, too,” he said.

They came to a complete stop, their backs up against the blank side of a building. Goro could see one, two people a handful of yards down the road. They looked like they were talking to each other.

“I don’t like this,” Joker muttered under his breath.

“It’s fine,” Goro said, his voice deceptively calm given how his skin was prickling. He swallowed. “This was the plan.”

Goro could practically see the mental battle Joker was having with himself, the way his eyes crinkled behind his mask, how he tapped his fingers rapidly against his arm. Sighing, he turned on his heel and placed his hand on the wall behind them. “Okay,” he finally said. Goro blinked, and when he opened his eyes again, Joker had his hand not against the wall, but around a door handle. He gave Goro a long look, and then cracked the door open. “Be careful. We’ll see you again soon.”

Goro nodded, and then Joker disappeared behind the door in a single-motion flourish, shutting it closed with a gentle click.

Goro stared. He could still see the door, because he knew it was there, but it was starting to seem… fuzzy, like maybe it wasn’t really a door, but the discoloration and cracks in the building were just vaguely door-shaped. He pressed his hand against the wall, running it over the seam of the door, perfectly smooth and unbroken.

“H-hey, you!” a voice behind him commanded. “Turn around, slowly. We want to ask you a few questions.”

Goro turned in place, slowly, holding his hands up loosely in front of his chest. He winced; one of the officers was pointing a flashlight directly at the back of Goro’s head, and right into his eyes once he was fully facing them.

The officer lowered his flashlight, pointing the beam just slightly down. “It’s you?” he asked, bewildered, throwing a glance over his shoulder at his back-up, who simply shrugged. He took a shaky step forward, holding out a pair of handcuffs as he did so. 

“We, uh… well, we've gotta take you in now, you know?”

 

* * *

 

The officers didn’t seem to quite know what to do with Goro once they had him in the police car, so they wound up just taking him back to the precinct, handcuffing him for good measure, and dropping him off in a detention room while they, presumably, panicked until they figured out how to handle him.

Goro let his arms rest on the desk in front of him, and turned his gaze upward. There were two security cameras in the detention room: one pointed towards the door, and one pointed towards the detainee. These cameras were still, lacking the distinctive red light that let you know they were recording. It was a worrying sign, not just because it was against policy, but because there weren’t many people Goro knew in the precinct who would be comfortable with such an act…

His thoughts were interrupted when the door opened, and who sauntered into the room but the man himself. Shido didn’t look great. His wounds were in the process of healing, that ugly stage where bruises turned brown and splotchy while the skin tried to heal itself up. His clothes were neat and clean enough, but his whole disposition was that of a man who was running on very little sleep and even less patience.

He made his way to the seat across from Goro and sat down, lacing his hands together below his chin. For a long moment, he didn’t say anything, simply stared at Goro over his fingers, and Goro stared right back. He was used to such games; he wouldn’t be intimidated.

Then, at last, Shido asked, “Is this funny to you?”

Goro kept his face perfectly neutral. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said.

“I believe you do,” Shido said. His words came out sharp and clear, but there was a low, raspy quality to his voice that made Goro think he may have been shouting not too long ago. “Even back when you were reporting on this case to me, your information was pathetically sparse at best and useless more often than not. Now I find you gallivanting around with known criminals. And so I ask: is this funny to you?”

“Nothing funny, _sir_ ,” Goro said, all but spitting out the last word, “but I admit, I don’t know what you’re talking about. I was simply taking a walk when I was accosted by your men.”

Shido’s eyes flashed with a dangerous light. “Cut the bullshit,” he said. “How long have you been working with those wretches to undermine this investigation?”

“How do you mean?” Goro asked. “I was alone when I was taken into custody. With whom could I be working?”

“Play dumb if you wish,” Shido said, “but all it means is that you will be tried in lieu of your little friends. You wouldn’t want that, would you? A stain on your perfect record?” Shido leaned forward now. “Tell me who they are. It will be easier for you.”

“I’m sorry,” Goro said, “but I still don’t know – if I knew what you were talking about, then maybe..."

Shido slammed his palms on the table. “Don’t be an idiot! Who could I be talking about if not the Phantom Thieves?” He took a deep breath, distanced himself from his outburst, and pulled his hands back. “I have proof you’ve been in contact with them. Now, we could do this the easy way, or I could take you to court and force it out of you.” His expression softened, just a bit. “I don’t want to trouble you. Just tell me their names, and we can forget this ever happened.”

Oh, that was rich. Goro had to bite his tongue to keep his smirk at bay. “I don’t know who they are,” he said.

Shido’s expression was impossible to read; he wasn’t surprised, obviously he had expected Goro to deny it, but Goro wondered if it had even crossed his mind that Goro might be telling the truth.

“You realize, of course, that without any other names, suspicion falls on you, Akechi,” he said.

“Does it?” Goro asked. He brought his hands together as best he could and tilted his head to the side. “I wasn’t aware you had made any progress towards IDing the Phantom Thieves. What points to me?”

“You’d think it’s nothing, wouldn’t you?” Shido asked, his lips curling into a cruel smile, and for the first time since the interrogation started, Goro felt on edge. “Because of your reports? Mm, yes... you wouldn’t fit your own profile, would you? You don’t attend Shujin Academy. And yet, how easy it would be for a detective to change up a simple detail like that, to throw everyone else off the trail.”

“That’s not–!” Goro began to say.

“Not what happened?” Shido asked. “And why don’t you prove it?” He leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms. “Ah, but you can’t, can you? Your reports were practically useless – you barely recorded anything at all. It's negligence at best, and at worst... well. Things aren’t looking good for you.”

This was good, Goro thought, but it wasn’t enough. It was shady, definitely, but it wasn't _gripping_...

Goro clicked his tongue and looked up, looked Shido directly in the eyes, and said, in a soft, defeated voice: “I can’t believe you’d treat your own son like this.”

That did the trick. Goro thought he could see the vein behind Shido’s eye pop, his thin facade of normalcy crumbling in mere moments. Goro barely had time to brace himself before Shido reeled back and backhanded Goro across the face in a single, quick motion. Goro's head twisted to the side, his cheek stinging, but otherwise he was no worse for wear; Shido has lashed out, sure, but there was no follow-through. It was a weak hit.

Shido shoved his chair away and bared down on the table, glaring at Goro. “Your insipid mockery is disgusting," he said. "I look forward to putting you behind bars.”

 _Big talk_ , Goro thought as Shido stomped ungracefully out of the detention center, but nonetheless he let out a breath he didn't know he had been holding. He attempted to fold his arms together, and as he lowered his head down to rest on his arms, Goro looked up at the security camera, as subtly as possible, and noted with a twinge of pride the red recording light blinking back at him.

 

* * *

 

 **> >anon:** what a jackass lmao  
**> >anon:** i KNEW this was suspicious  
**> >anon: **I hope they actually fire him... I don't want someone like that investigating crimes. (>_<)

These messages, and dozens more like them, were peppering Mishima’s blog, and had been for the past 24 hours. Oracle had done a good job, Goro had to admit. He wasn’t able to see the video until a day after he was released from the detention center, but it was easy enough to find; the news couldn’t shut up about it. She had successfully tapped into the detention room's security cameras – both of them – and spliced the visuals together into a single video. Then, apparently, she sent it out anywhere she could think – local news stations, social media – and let the internet take the reins.

Goro might not have been able to force anything specific out of Shido, but it didn't seem to matter; just as Queen had anticipated, simply the act of revealing his unsavory nature to the public was enough to turn the tide against him. And while Goro didn't know for sure, he suspected that the _rest_ of Oracle's findings had made their way to Sae's desk at some point, too. It was the only way to explain why Shido had been removed from the office, given unpaid leave until this whole mess was sorted - or so the office gossip seemed to believe.

 _I should really apologize to Sae somehow_ , Goro thought. Or rather, to Acting Special Investigations Director Sae Niijima. It was a good look for her, even if she hadn't had a moment of peace since she'd gotten to the office that morning. Would it be imprudent to send her flowers and sign it from the Phantom Thieves? He wouldn’t really be lying... Sae might not appreciate the flowers, though; she’d probably prefer something more practical, and obviously, receiving flowers from the Phantom Thieves at a time like this could just make her life more difficult. 

Despite the chaos, Goro thought it was nice to be back. Sae had assured him that he didn't _need_ to return to work so quickly, not if he wasn't feeling up to it, but he was glad to have something to do again. He wasn't pushing himself, however, and he allowed himself to take a break midway through the day. Ordinarily he might have gone out, but he had barely managed to dodge a few rogue reporters on his way _in_ to work, and surely there were more of them parked outside now, so instead he found his way to the roof, a little courtyard area that the SID shared with its neighboring buildings. He was hoping for a few moments of fresh air and solitude, but of course, the roof wasn't empty.

Sitting on a bench, idly twirling a pocket knife in his hand, was Joker. Of course.

Taking care to step well into Joker's peripheral vision, Goro raised his voice and said, "Hello."

Joker jolted to attention, nearly dropping his knife. He recovered quickly, slipping the device away into some hidden pocket, while his coattails flapped gently in the breeze. "Hey," he replied.

Goro approached the bench, and Joker moved his legs to allow Goro to sit down, close enough that they were only _barely_ not touching. “How long have you been up here?” Goro asked.

“A while,” Joker admitted with a fleeting smile. It dropped almost immediately, though, and he said, “I’m sorry.”

“What for?” Goro asked.

“For making you do that,” Joker said, waving his hand vaguely. “I didn’t know he was… about your history. With him. I wouldn’t have told you to do it if I had known.”

“It’s no trouble,” Goro said. “In fact, wouldn’t you say it’s more effective this way? We got what we wanted.”

It wasn't even a lie. Goro didn't relish the fact that his parentage was now a well-known fact, but the video had served its purpose, and no one had to serve any jail time. That was a win as far as he was concerned. Instead of replying, however, Joker leaned forward, wrapping his arms around Goro’s torso and dragging him forward, bumping their knees together in the process. Goro froze.

“Wh…what is this,” he said.

“This – it seemed like this was a hug moment,” Joker mumbled into Goro’s shoulder. “That’s okay. Right?”

“R-right,” Goro said, and he gently returned the gesture. For a brief moment, he allowed himself to enjoy the embrace, the comforting weight of Joker’s arms around him... but he couldn't let it linger, and he forced himself to pull back, just barely. They could look each other in the eye now, with Goro’s arms still looped loosely around Joker’s shoulders. “You really shouldn’t be here,” Goro said. “The media won’t leave us alone, as you no doubt saw… it’s dangerous for you.”

“Mm,” Joker said. He looked away, shifting slightly under Goro’s arms. “Then, we should go somewhere. Somewhere more private.” He swallowed, and then asked, tentatively, “Your apartment?”

Goro felt like he was hit physically by that question. “I… I have work,” he stammered.

“Later, I mean,” Joker corrected, but he picked up on Goro’s reluctance. “Unless that’s not what you want?” Goro couldn’t answer, and Joker pulled his own arms back; the air between them felt cold. Goro shivered. “Akechi-kun, do you not want this?” Joker asked again.

“I do,” Goro admitted, as much to himself as to Joker, “but… I don’t like to invite strangers into my house, Joker.”

Joker pouted. “After all this time, you still consider me a stranger?”

“Well,” Goro sighed and brought his thumb up to run along the bottom edge of Joker’s mask. “…aren’t you?”

Joker flinched and his hand flew to Goro’s, pulling him away from his mask, and Goro felt like he had been stabbed in the chest. Joker’s eyes were wide, as if he realized what he did only after it had been done.

“I’m…” he started to say.

“Why?” Goro asked, and winced when he heard his own voice, so strained and hurt. “What’s left to hide? I’m no longer investigating you – no one is. So why…?”

Joker shrugged off Goro’s arms and shrunk away. ”You like Joker, right?” he asked, his voice more vulnerable and timid than Goro had ever heard before. “…you won’t like the other me.”

“You don’t know that.” Goro could feel the heat on his face, the tips of his ears burning hot. Joker was  _so_ familiar to him, somehow, and Goro had been waiting so patiently for the day Joker would reveal himself - like he had  _promised_ \- that the thought of being denied now, after so much had happened, felt almost like a betrayal. “Please. I just need to know…” but Goro stopped himself.

_Know what?_

_That you’re real?_

_That you aren’t just toying with me?_

When Goro couldn't finish his sentence, Joker stood up, and there was a split second where Goro thought - yes, he's going to do it, he's going for his mask - but instead he simply mumbled, “I’m sorry,” and fled to the edge of the building. He looked back before he hopped over the rail, but Goro did not move to follow him; even if he wanted to, his legs were too heavy to move, and he felt a lead weight settle in the pit of his stomach as he watched Joker disappear over the side of the building.

Why did he still feel the need to hide his face? He had promised, not that long ago, he’d tell Goro his name… so what had changed? By all accounts, the Thieves were doing better than ever, thanks to the video... but, the video. That _had_ brought some revelations about Goro to light. Could it be that it had soured Joker's opinion of Goro in some way? Perhaps he worried that Shido’s temperament had been passed on to Goro, a genetic predisposition towards violence... That could be it, Goro thought; Joker thought he’d seen a vision of who Goro could become, and he hated it, or else he was simply afraid. Easier to hide his identity behind a mask, easier to disappear and become anonymous if things went south, than to reveal himself and suffer the consequences.

Goro sighed and got to his feet, and as he did, he felt a twinge in his chest that made him ball his hands into fists, digging his fingers into his palm until it hurt. So, Joker wasn’t any different after all. Then why…? Why didn't Goro want to give up on him?


	12. Chapter 12

“You seem distracted again, Akechi-kun.”

A soft voice shook him from his thoughts, and Goro looked up, wincing visibly. “Oh... I’m terribly sorry, Togo-chan,” he said. “I haven’t been giving our game the attention it deserves.”

It was a breezy, rainy evening, the kind of night that Goro knew would draw Hifumi to the church, even though it wasn’t one of their regularly scheduled game days. His decision to walk to the church had been largely arbitrary, his mind too preoccupied with his own selfish problems to formulate a reason for his outing, but once he was there, he thought that a game of Shogi would help put his thoughts to rest, at least for an hour or so.

He thought wrong. It was embarrassing how thoroughly Joker occupied Goro’s mind now: Joker’s identity, the true nature of Joker’s _feelings_ for Goro... and likewise, of Goro’s feelings for him. So much so that Goro’s attention had strayed after a scant few turns, and obviously, Hifumi had noticed.

“Does it have to do with the investigation?” she asked, neatening up her idle pieces while she waited for him to take his turn. “It can’t be easy on you…”

Goro shook his head, looking down at the board and hastily choosing to capture one of Hifumi’s pawns with a pawn of his own. “No, it’s not that,” he said. “He’s been thoroughly detained… Sae-san is being especially unforgiving with him. I suspect the Thieves have supplied her with additional evidence; fuel for the fire, so to speak.”

“I’m glad,” Hifumi said. She contemplated the game board for a moment before continuing, “But still, there's something, isn't there? Would it help to talk about it?”

In all honestly, Goro thought he would love to have someone to confide in, someone to help him navigate the social minefield he had fallen into… but there was something holding him back.

“You... you’d make fun of me,” Goro said.

Hifumi raised her eyebrows, her mouth opening just slightly in surprise. “I wouldn’t,” she assured him, and then Goro was able to identify the emotion on her face: she was hurt.

“I’m sorry,” he said, dipping his head in apology. “I know you wouldn’t; it’s just… embarrassing to admit.” He sighed and took a look around the room. The deacon was certainly here somewhere, though he was not in their immediate vicinity. As for other church attendees, the inclement weather had largely driven them away; for all intents and purposes, he and Hifumi were alone tonight. Goro swallowed. “Would you believe me if I told you I have a crush?” he asked.

Hifumi studied his face for a moment, and then dropped her gaze down to the Shogi board, a sign that she was still processing his statement. Goro sat back and waited for her to finish promoting one of the pawns he hadn’t captured, after which she straightened up, looked him dead in the eye, and asked, “Is it on Joker?”

Goro nearly dropped his bishop. “How did you...?”

Hifumi lifted a hand to hide her giggle. “It was mostly a lucky guess,” she admitted. “Out of all the Thieves, he was the one you seemed most interested in. I mean,” she lowered her hand, her eyes narrowing as she gave him a closed-lipped but clearly amused grin, “you haven’t really talked about anyone else these past few months.”

“Is that so?” Goro asked. He felt suddenly very self-conscious. “I apologize for that; it must have been boring for you.”

“No, not at all,” Hifumi said. She shifted anxiously in her seat. “Have… have you told him?” she asked.

Oh, this was going to be impossible. Goro could already feel the tips of his ears burning up; he was going to die of embarrassment before the conversation was over. He looped his arm over the backside of the pew and looked up at the vaulted ceiling, just to take away some of the pressure of a face-to-face conversation. “He knows,” Goro finally decided. “He must. That’s not the trouble. Rather, I’d imagine it’s… I asked him to remove his mask.”

Out of the corner of his eye, Goro could see Hifumi pressing her fingertips together, watching him with rapt attention. “And?” she asked.

“And… I had hoped that at this point, Joker would have felt comfortable revealing his identity to me,” Goro said. “However, it would seem I was wrong.”

“Mm,” Hifumi nodded. “Okay. I think I’m starting to understand.”

“It’s just… embarrassing,” Goro said. “I thought I was on the right track with him, but I was completely off-base, it would seem.”

Hifumi hummed. “I’m not so sure that’s it,” she said. Goro frowned, tilting his head to look at her again, and she continued, “Well, try to consider it from his point of view. He spent all his time getting to know you as Joker, so taking off his mask… it’d be like starting over. That’s scary, isn’t it?” she asked. “I can sympathize. Returning to the amateur Shogi circuit after my mother admitted what she did… it’s like I’m a stranger again.”

“Perhaps you’re right, Togo-chan,” Goro said, though his agreement was only half-hearted. It was true that Joker had seemed scared during their encounter on the roof, scared enough to run away, but Joker seemed like the kind of person who _delighted_ in making waves, so for him to lose confidence all of a sudden was hard to imagine. “I just wish I could contact them again,” he mused, mostly to himself. “A phone number, anything… I should have pushed for it when I had the chance. I suppose it’s too late now.”

Goro busied himself taking another turn, haphazardly trying to go on the offensive, and for a few minutes, Hifumi indulged him, but before long she broke their silence to ask him, “Is this really it? Have you truly exhausted all your avenues to track them down already?” Goro looked at her, and her brow creased. “You’ve known them all for so long now… there must be something they’ve said, something that stands out about one of them.”

“Something they’ve said,” Goro repeated, closing his eyes. For the most part, the Thieves had been understandably cagey with details about themselves, but perhaps as they came to work together with Goro, they had let their guard down somewhat. He combed through his memories of their most recent conversations, not just with Joker but with all the Thieves, when he was struck, at last, by a memory from not that long ago: a conversation between him and Queen.

_That man… is the reason we formed the Phantom Thieves in the first place._

Hifumi was so smart, Goro thought. He, on the other hand, was so prone to tunnel vision that he would sometimes forget the obvious – like that he had access to the police’s database of crimes. Something had happened between Shido and Joker – the real Joker – just before the Thieves had formed. Something criminal? It was possible, and if that was the case… there could be a record of it.

“Ah, Togo-chan,” Goro said, with his first unrestrained smile of the evening, “you know, I think you're right.”

 

* * *

 

Unfortunately, as Goro discovered the next day at work, searching for “Masayoshi Shido” turned up exactly one result – the alleged assault that had just taken place. That was obviously useless, but Goro wasn’t ready to give up yet; Shido would never use his real name on something that could potentially be traced back to him in a negative way. That was something Goro had learned back when he was still living with the man.

Occasionally, when Goro was the one tasked to go and fetch the mail, he would find they had received letters for someone who didn’t live there, usually blank envelopes addressed to a Takeshi Satou. At first he wrote it off as a fluke, but it didn’t take long for Goro to put the pieces together that Satou _was_ Shido – who opened every letter Satou received – that it was nothing more a pseudonym, a perfectly generic name to hide behind and protect Shido’s image.

Goro wasn’t privy to the contents of Shido’s mail, and thought it was possible that Shido had retired the fake name by now, but nonetheless he tried again, searching for “Takeshi Satou” this time. Unsurprisingly, there were now dozens of hits, both full and partial name matches. Tweaking the search conditions, he narrowed it down to only victims, not perpetrators, and then fixed the time frame. He wasn’t sure exactly what to go for, but the Thieves were first active in January and February, so Goro thought any time between November of last year and January of this year would be a good place to look.

He received far, far fewer results with these parameters set – less than a dozen – and Goro thought he was more than willing to read through that many if it meant potentially uncovering Joker’s identity.

The first few cases were useless; either the criminals were far out of the correct age demographic, or the crime didn’t fit. In the fourth case, however, Goro found something promising. It had been December 31st, 11:38pm, late into New Years’ Eve. An assault had taken place, with Shido – sorry, _Satou_ – as the victim, roughly shoved to the ground by a high schooler (and Goro was sure that was precisely what had taken place).

Such a minor crime, one in which Shido hadn’t even been gravely injured if the hospital report was to be believed, and yet the student had been put on probation, forced to leave his hometown. That did sound like the kind of over-reaction Shido would make to a perceived slight against him. As for the assailant, it was…

Ah.

Goro sat back in his chair. Now, he couldn’t jump to conclusions. He didn’t know for sure if this case even involved Shido, but the timeline, the ages, the order to move suddenly to Shibuya… everything lined up. _This has to be him_ , was what his detective’s intuition was telling him.

Goro got up.

Suddenly, he was craving coffee.

 

* * *

 

It was nice to have a cup of coffee in his hands, Goro thought. It was easier to hide his stares that way.

It was so _fucking obvious_ now. No wonder the Thieves had been so insistent on meeting incognito, even in private; if Goro had even so much as suspected Kurusu before now, he thought he would have seen past the mask instantly.

And how? How could Joker have truly thought Goro wouldn’t like him, when his other self was Akira? Goro was almost angry about it. For his part, Kurusu seemed to be studiously avoiding prolonged conversation with Goro, which was telling in and of itself, a departure from his usual behavior.

Goro sipped thoughtfully on his coffee and watched Kurusu out of the corner of his eye. Perhaps he should just walk up to Kurusu and tell him, lay it all out on the table… but, Goro wondered, could he really confront Kurusu in front of Sakura-san? That would be unbearably embarrassing for all parties, he suspected, and although there was plenty of proof to the contrary, there was a nagging worry in the back of his mind that perhaps he had been misreading this whole situation from the beginning… the threat of even semi-public humiliation was enough to give him pause.

There was something else, though. Goro thought. The Thieves were undoubtedly a close-knit group, so any acquaintances of Kurusu’s could be potential Thieves, as well. He looked around the café, which contained mostly elderly couples at this time of day, and now that he thought about it, Goro wasn’t sure he had ever seen many people in Leblanc that he would peg as Kurusu’s friends. There was the shy red-head, Futaba-chan, but her hair was so distinct, and Goro didn’t remember any of the Thieves with a look quite like that. Thinking back, the only other person around high school age that he’d seen in Leblanc was Makoto Niijima.

That was a name he had certainly considered before, and with Joker’s identity come to light, Goro thought it was more likely than ever before. And if Niijima-chan was a Phantom Thief, then…

There was a way. He knew. He knew how he could contact the Phantom Thieves, and how he could get an insider opinion, from someone who knew Joker and Kurusu alike. He drained the last of his coffee, set his payment down on the bar, and left without so much as a goodbye. It was Friday, late afternoon – too late for Shujin Academy to be open still? Almost certainly… He recalled that Makoto sorted the request box on Sunday, so unless Goro wanted to wait an entire week, he would have to sneak into the school tomorrow.

With the added pressure of a time limit, Goro found himself up late into the night, staring down a blank index card under the light of his desk lamp. In the end, he wasn’t terribly satisfied with what he came up with, but he could explain himself more eloquently in person. For the time being, he needed something that would grab the other Thieves’ attention, and he thought this would certainly do the job.

The next day, he made his way to Shujin early in the morning, before classes had started and with plenty of students still milling about. Under the cover of a crowd, he was able to sneak up to the request box and peer inside. It relieved him to see that there were quite a few slips of paper sitting inside - that meant people were still using the box, which meant that Makoto would likely still be actively checking it.

He took one last look at his note. He had written “Queen” in neat, bold letters on the outside of the envelope, and inside, a request that she read the note in private – a request he could only hope she would follow. After a quick check left and right to ensure there was no one watching, he approached the request box and slipped the envelope through the slot. Before anyone could question him, he was on his way out.

 

* * *

 

Goro was already regretting his decision by early afternoon. Even thought he knew with absolute certainty that Makoto had _not_ looked at the box, and would not do so until noon tomorrow at the earliest, he couldn’t help but imagine that, what? The Thieves had found his letter and were making fun of him together, that they thought it was simply a prank, or worst of all, that Makoto had never even read the note – and he would have no way of knowing.

By the time Sunday rolled around, Goro was wound so tight he thought the anticipation might literally kill him. Would she even read his note today? He had written an instructions on his note for Queen, but would she even listen to them? He was so drawn into his own mind that he nearly leapt out of his skin when his phone suddenly buzzed loudly against his desk.

He scrambled to pick it up, and found two text messages greeting him.

 **> >Unknown Number:** Hello.  
**> >Unknown Number:** Am I speaking to Crow?

Goro had been too shy to leave his own name on his message, not to mention he worried that Queen and the others might not take him seriously if he did, and so he’d taken a page out of the Thieves’ own book and signed the note with his phone number and a codename.

 **> >Goro:** You are.

 **> >Unknown Number:** Huhuhuhu~  
**> >Unknown Number:** I am Oracle, of the Phantom Thieves of Hearts.

Aha, of course. Goro smiled; who else would handle electronic communications but their resident hacker?  
  
**> >Oracle:** We have received your message.  
**> >Oracle:** You understand that you’ve given us reason to find you suspicious, right?

 **> >Goro:** I assumed that would be a risk, yes.  
**> >Goro:** May I ask if you followed my request?

There was a long pause.

 **> >Oracle:** For now, we have done as you asked.  
**> >Oracle:** However, we reserve the right to inform our Leader if we come to suspect you are trying to harm our cause.

Goro felt his shoulders relax.

 **> >Goro:** Thank you.

 **> >Oracle:** Before we proceed further, we need to meet you in person.  
**> >Oracle:** Can you meet tonight?

 

* * *

 

The sun was nearly set, low enough that the trees around him were casting long shadows, and Goro was starting to learn that perhaps he was not as patient of a person as he always considered himself to be. At work, the time spent waiting for someone else to supply him with a piece of evidence or an important document made for a nice respite in an otherwise hectic day, but tonight he was restless, alternating between staring at the ground and staring out into space, searching for even a hint of movement among the dark foliage.

“Akechi-kun?”

If he hadn’t been expecting it, the sudden call would have surprised him. Goro looked up. Across the path, he saw Queen step out from behind a tree, her figure partly muddled by the twilight. She took a few cautious steps out of the woods, taking a quick look around the immediate vicinity.

“This isn’t a trap,” she said, slowly.

Goro shook his head.

“So then,” Queen said, having drawn close enough now that when she pulled a slip of paper out of her pocket and held it out to Goro, he could take it from her without getting up, “this is from you?”

The envelope was gone, leaving only the index card, and Goro found his own writing staring back at him:

“I write this message to Queen and the other Thieves, sans Joker.

Please, I need your help.

I want to steal Joker’s heart.

Crow”

He handed the card back to Queen and nodded, “Yes.”

Queen shook her head, but she was smiling gently. “Hmm. Seems you were right, Panther.”

A cheerful giggle sounded out somewhere behind Goro’s head. He whipped around, but in the growing darkness he couldn’t see where Panther was hiding. “I told you I have a sixth sense for these things, didn’t I? Up here, Akechi-kun.”

Panther was perched up in a tree about five feet above Goro’s head, swinging her legs gently over the edge of the branch. She waved at him, and he smiled weakly. When had she gotten up there? He thought he had been hypersensitive to sounds, but he didn’t hear her at all… he glanced briefly to his side. “Where are the others?” he asked.

“Fox and Skull are with Joker,” Queen said, “keeping him distracted. We didn’t want to risk having him catch on to us before we had the chance to verify your identity.”

“And Oracle?” Goro asked.

“She… doesn’t really go out much,” Panther said, while Queen took a seat on the bench beside Goro.

“Not to skip past the pleasantries, but there are a few things I need to ask you about,” Queen said, turning so that she could face Goro directly. “Now, when you said steal his heart… I’m guessing you’re using it in a different context that we did with Kamoshida.”

“Mm,” Goro nodded and produced the calling card Joker had sent him, which was gently worn around the edges from time spent in his pocket. “He sent me a card with similar wording before,” he said, handing it off to Queen. “That was my model.”

“Oh, I remember that!” Panther chirped, and then Goro heard a heavy rustling noise, following by a loud thud as Panther dismounted from the tree and propped herself up, leaning over the back of the bench to look at Goro. “Soo what’s up? Have you kissed?” she asked.

“P-panther, please!” Queen exclaimed, startled and twisting around to fix Panther with an indignant stare.

“What? I’m just trying to figure out where we’re standing,” she replied.

“We, um…” Goro coughed, cleared his throat. “We have,” he said.

“Aww,” Panther cooed, and Goro was thankful it was dark enough that she wouldn’t be able to see the color of his face, because this was going to be even harder than talking to Hifumi. If there was any consolation, it was that Queen seemed just as flustered by the conversation as he was, though Panther plowed on without a second thought. “Okay, so have you, like, talked to him?” Panther then asked. “I mean, you’ve kissed, right? So obviously he’s at least _sorta_ into it.”

“I… I asked him to remove his mask,” Goro said. “And he wouldn’t. I hoped… I thought I had been following his lead, but it seems I made a misstep.”

“Ohh, okay. Okay, I gotcha,” Panther said, her tone dropping somewhat. She and Queen exchanged a look. A few silence seconds ticked by, and Goro wondered if there was some secret code between the Thieves, not just in terms of conversation, but regarding actions as well… Perhaps asking one of them to remove their mask was a grave breach of trust.

At last, Queen turned to him and said, “I almost feel silly asking, but… Akechi-kun, you’ve discovered Joker’s identity, haven’t you?”

Was that a trick question? Goro searched Queen’s face for a hint, but he found her as difficult to read as ever. He had reached out to her in good faith, though, and so he had to believe that her question was honest, as well. “I believe I have,” he said.

Queen kept him pinned down with a sharp gaze and added, “And mine as well, isn’t that right?”

Goro froze. “I… I have a theory,” he admitted.

“The way you chose to contact us made me think you might,” Queen said. Thankfully, despite her serious demeanor, she didn’t seem unhappy; if anything, she seemed… impressed?

Goro allowed himself to lean back against the bench, laughing softly to himself. “It’s funny… have we had a single honest conversation in all the times we’ve met, Niijima-chan?” he asked.

Behind him, Panther whistled. “That’s incredible! Do you know who I am, too?” she asked.

“I – I’m afraid not. Queen and Joker are the only two,” Goro said, and Panther made a disappointed noise.

“You’re quite clever,” Queen said. “No wonder my sister speaks so fondly of you.” Goro looked to her in time to see her lift one hand and grasp the sides of her mask, pushing in gently and sliding the item off her face. As though a light fog had lifted, the face staring back at him was now undeniably Makoto Niijima’s.

“Woah! Okay? We’re doing this? All right,” Panther said, a look of shock briefly passing over her face before she shrugged, and then she too removed her mask, while simultaneously letting her hair out of a tight bun. Curtains of blonde hair fell into frame around her face and she grinned, sticking a hand out in Goro’s direction. “I guess we gotta do this again now, so hey! I’m Ann Takamaki.”

Goro accepted her hand and shook. “Good to meet you, Takamaki-san,” he said, and Ann released his hand, leaning way over the park bench and groaning.

“Ugh, you don’t haveta be like that!” she said. “It’s not like we’re strangers.”

“Takamaki…chan?” Goro tried again.

“Okay, okay,” Makoto said, holding her hand up before Ann could reply. “It’s cold, you guys, and we _are_ here for a reason, remember?” Ann nodded, pulling herself out of her dramatic slump and hopping onto the bench, sandwiching Goro in between herself and Makoto. “Akechi-kun,” Makoto said, “What is your goal regarding Akira-kun?”

Goro swallowed. It felt selfish to say he _wanted_ Akira, wanted his attention, his trust, for him to reciprocate Goro’s feelings as well… it felt like something he wasn’t allowed to ask for. “I… want to get through to Kurusu,” he finally decided. “I’m realizing that perhaps I don’t know as much about him as I thought. But as for why I contacted you, I suppose I wanted reassurance that I wasn’t… imagining things.” He sighed. “You know him the best. What would you do, in my situation?”

“I don’t think you’re imagining things,” Ann said, while she gathered up some of her loose hair into a pigtail. “Akira’s definitely interested in you. I don’t think he’d react badly if you told him you already know who he is.”

“I have to agree,” Makoto said. “If it’s permission you’re looking for, please consider it given.”

“That is reassuring,” Goro said, _but not what I’m looking for_ , he thought. He leaned forward, his arms resting on his knees, closing his hands over his mouth. After a moment, he parted his fingers and said, quietly: “I don’t know how.”

“Ohh,” Ann said, the sound of dawning realization in her tone. “I got it.” Goro looked at her sideways, and could tell her energy level was rising by the second. She was sitting up straight, her hand clenched in a triumphant fist. “No, I got it – I know what we can do," she continued. "It’ll be great. We’ll help you!”

“Ann,” Makoto said, meant as a warning, but Ann quickly shushed her.

“No, listen – don’t worry. I know this’ll work.” Smiling brightly, she placed a hand on Goro’s shoulder and with light, mischievous eyes, asked, “Akechi-kun, can you cook?”

 

* * *

 

When he came to a halt outside the apartment door, a fuzzy string of anxiety curled its way through Goro’s stomach and into his throat. He looked down at the gently rumpled paper in his hand and double checked, but he was definitely in the right place – this was Takamaki’s apartment. Just as he was knocking on the door, Goro realized he could hear the sounds of muffled conversation coming from the other side of the wall.

Moments later, the door was wrenched open. “Hey, you’re here! All right!” Ann said, smiling a sunny smile and propping the door open, inviting him to come in. It was her parents’ place, she had told him the other day when she gave him the address, but they were out of town for the time being, so it was the perfect place to carry out her plan.

As for what that plan was, Goro didn’t have a clue – Ann had left it up to him to speculate – but as she led him through the living room and into the kitchen, he was starting to get an idea.

Goro wasn’t expecting the crowd. Makoto was there, of course, but it seemed Ann had decided to invite _all_ the Thieves to this… whatever this was. Bowls and measuring cups and utensils of all kinds littered the countertops, cabinets had been left open to retrieve ingredients without bothering to replace them, and of course, there was the smell, light and sugary, hanging in the air. It was hot, too, despite the cold weather, and Goro suspected the oven must have been on for quite some time before he had arrived.

“Ah, I’m glad you made it,” Makoto said, wiping her hands on a dish towel and stepping away from the counter to come greet him. “I’m sorry we started without you.”

“It’s no trouble,” Goro said, waving his hand. He took a moment to survey the room. In a far corner, Goro could see the back of a young man with bleached-blonde hair, presumably Skull, but perhaps the most surprising attendee was Futaba-chan, who was crouched on a barstool, aggressively stirring something in a large bowl. She looked up at him, waggled her fingers in greeting, and then immediately returned to her task. “So, this is everyone, is it?” Goro asked.

“Yep,” Ann said. “Well, everyone except the obvious.”

The final Thief, who had been crouched low and hyper-focusing on a pastry in front of him when Goro arrived, stood up enough that Goro could see his face. “You too, Kitagawa-kun?” he asked.

Yusuke took a moment to process that the statement had been directed at him, and then his eyes went wide. “I – I apologize,” he said. “I did not intend to deceive to you; however…”

“It’s fine,” Goro said, cutting him off. “I’m simply surprised, that’s all.”

His eyes drifted and Goro noticed a set of paintbrushes sitting on the counter beside the spatulas. He could see now that Yusuke was holding a brush in his hands, using it to delicately fleck frosting onto a sugar cookie; the brushes must have been his doing.

“Then the only person you wouldn’t know is Ryuji,” Makoto said, pointing out the blonde boy Goro had noticed earlier. “I’m surprised,” she added. “You’ve met so many of us.”

“Mm,” Goro nodded, but the anxiety from earlier was worming its way back into his stomach. This was all well and good, but he was still feeling clueless as to why _he_ was here, when for all intents and purposes it seemed to be a Phantom Thief hang-out session. “So… Takamaki-chan,” he began, “Forgive me, but… what exactly did you intend for me to do today?” he asked.

As if she only just remembered the inspiration for this whole affair, Ann’s face brightened up into a wide smile, and she clasped her hands together. “You’re gonna make chocolates! To give to Akira, of course,” she explained. “And here’s the thing,” she added in a low voice, wrapping an arm around his shoulder and pulling him close, “We’ll get you a box, and label it for Akira, okay? But then you can give it to Joker. Two birds with one stone, right?”

Ah, so that was it. Well, it would be a way to handle both of Goro’s problems, to tell Akira that Goro knew his secret identity, and to reveal his feelings all at once. “And… and you’re certain this is a good idea?” he asked.

“Totally,” Ann replied, already off and making her way across the kitchen to bowl that Ryuji had been using. “Akira loves this kind of stuff. You know he works at a flower shop sometimes?”

Goro didn't exactly understand the connection there, but decided to let it go.

“Why chocolate though?” Ryuji said, craning his head around to join the conversation. “S’not like it’s even close to Valentine’s Day…”

“It doesn’t matter!” Ann replied, gently whapping him with a wooden spoon. “If you’re gonna confess to someone, you have to make them chocolate. That’s like… classic.”

“I can confirm that,” Futaba called out. She was now in the process of spooning something out of her bowl into muffin tins. “Homemade chocolate is definitely, 100% a confession must-have.”

“All right then,” Goro said, still feeling a bit apprehensive. He watched as Ann dipped a finger into the bowl from which Ryuji had stepped away, and she swiped out a bit of melted chocolate that she quickly stuck in her mouth. After a few moments of contemplative tasting, she frowned.

“It’s not sweet enough,” she declared.

“Yeah?” Ryuji asked, half-yelling at her from the sink. “I was just followin’ the recipe…”

“Hmm…” Ann leaned over the printed-out recipe Ryuji had been using and looked it over. Unsatisfied, she shook her head. “Why don’t we add some more sweet cream?”

“A’ight,” Ryuji said, quieter now as he returned to Ann’s side. “Wait, won’t that, like, fuck with the consistency or something?”

“Um… we can just add more cocoa powder too?” Ann guessed.

“But that’s the shit that’s makin’ it bitter!” Ryuji said. “Look, let’s just add in more powdered sugar and like… a little cream in case it gets all dry or something.”

“Right!” Ann said, bounding off to retrieve the powdered sugar from the pile of ingredients.

At the same moment, a piercing shriek drew Goro’s attention to the other end of the room, where Futaba had just finished placing her cupcakes in the oven and was returning to her spot at the counter.

“Why’d you decorate my cookies?” Futaba asked, all but glaring daggers at Yusuke. “I had big plans for those!”

Yusuke looked up at her, down to the confections in front of him, and back again, blinking at her slowly. “These are yours?” he asked, so innocently that Goro thought there was no way he could be lying; no one could be that good at acting clueless. “I… I must have gotten so absorbed in my task that I lost track of my canvas.”

“Ugh, that doesn’t make any sense!” Futaba said, throwing her hands up in the air. “But fine, whatever, just let me decorate yours instead, ‘kay?”

“W-wait!” Yusuke exclaimed, grabbing the edge of the tray that Futaba was pulling away. “You can’t, I—“

“Oh c’mon, fair’s fair,” Futaba said, sticking out her tongue.

Goro found that the chaos in the room was oddly charming, in a way; he’d rarely had the chance to experience such a casual get-together with friends, to the point that it was almost intimidating. He thought he should take a step further into the kitchen, but couldn’t for fear of trespassing on some special moment between the Thieves.

“Um,” Makoto said, coming up beside him and gently tapping his arm, “would you like me to help you get started, Akechi-kun?”

It was as if she could sense exactly how he felt, and he smiled gratefully at her. “That would be wonderful, Niijima-chan. Please.”

Goro followed Makoto to a spot she had cleared away and showed him a recipe for tempering chocolate – a recipe that had already been used today, if the chocolate-smudge fingerprints were anything to go by. With Makoto’s permission, Goro set about preparing to make his chocolate. The longer he was in the kitchen, listening to the friendly banter between the Thieves, he found himself slowly relaxing. Maybe this was a good idea. If nothing else, he was having an enjoyable afternoon.

At Makoto’s urging, he prepared both milk and dark chocolate varieties, and while he was tending the pots to ensure a smooth melt, Makoto left to fetch something from the refrigerator. She returned with a sealed container which, when uncovered, held some kind of gooey chocolate.

“I made this last night,” she said. “It’s a coffee-flavored ganache. I think Akira would enjoy it, if you wanted to use it in some of your chocolates.”

Goro picked up a spoon and sampled a small bit of the ganache. The bitter coffee flavor was offset by smooth, rich chocolate, and Goro was surprised to find that – sweet as it was – he rather enjoyed the flavor.

“It’s delightful,” he said to Makoto. “I’d love to use it.”

For his chocolates, he eventually decided on using some small heart-shaped molds, which were cute but not obnoxiously so (unlike the tray of molds shaped like kitty-cat heads, which he could see sitting off to the side, half-filled with cooling chocolate already) and which would, hopefully, leave no question as to what kind of present this was intended to be.

With Makoto’s assistance, he carefully poured the melted chocolate, spooning a bit of coffee ganache into about half of them, and then there was nothing to do but wait for the chocolates to set. Goro was surprised but not displeased at how enthusiastic the Thieves seemed to be about helping him, even Ryuji, who still seemed a bit cool towards Goro, although he may have simply been excited for an excuse to make sweets.

Within an hour, Goro was leaving Ann’s apartment with a small present box full of his nicest-looking chocolates, and somehow the group had convinced him that _tomorrow_ had to be the day – lest the chocolates go stale.

 

* * *

 

 **> >Futaba Sakura:** Okay, Akira’s on the move! He’ll be there soon.  
**> >Futaba Sakura:** Go get’em! ≧∇≦

Goro smiled faintly at his phone and stored it away. His cheeks were no doubt rosy pink by now – from the cold, of course, and nothing else – and he adjusted his scarf accordingly, but found it left him feeling hot around the neck.

He ambled slowly through the park, present box in hand, with no real destination in mind, his heart beating quick with anticipation. Futaba said Joker was on his way, but was he, really? Would he come? If he did, would he even accept Goro’s gift? The Thieves seemed convinced that Akira would love it, but what if it came off as insincere or trite?

Goro didn’t have the chance to finish formulating his worst-case scenario before he heard someone approaching, soft footsteps crunching over dead leaves. Goro kept his eyes forward, did not slow his pace, but held onto the box just a little bit tighter.

Whoever it was did not reveal themselves immediately, and so Goro walked for just a bit longer before he paused, off to the side of a path, and pretended to check his phone for something. More crunching, and then Goro could just see someone come into sight in his peripheral vision.

“Hmm?” the newcomer hummed curiously, and Goro at last allowed himself to look up, and as expected, Joker was there, dragging his hand along the trunk of a tree and altogether doing his best to look nonchalant. His outfit was certainly more casual than Goro was used to, dark wash jeans and a jacket and a nice red scarf around his neck. He tugged the scarf down from over his mouth and smiled.

“I’m surprised to see you here, detective,” Joker said, and Goro had to bite down on his tongue to avoid laughing; it was almost too much to see Joker try to play off their meeting here as some chance encounter, when Goro knew nothing could be further from the truth. Goro put his phone away and then shifted the box so he was holding it with both hands again, which caught Joker’s attention immediately. “What’ve you got there?” he asked, tilting his head to the side.

“Ah…” Goro could hear his heart pounding in his ears. He was ready, he was preparing for this, and yet he felt like his throat was closing up almost immediately. It was so nice that the Thieves had put so much faith in Goro, set up this whole plan for him, and here he was, about to completely blow it.

Yet Joker did not seem deterred by Goro’s non-response. If anything, it seemed to spur him on, and he drew a little closer, barely an arm’s length away. “A present?” he asked, his smile turning decided more teasing than it was before. “Is it for me?”

Goro flushed. Technically the answer was “no”, but that wasn’t the whole truth either, and he didn’t want Akira to get the wrong idea. He managed to swallow and put on a small smirk of his own, fighting down his insecurities. “Awfully presumptuous of you, isn’t it?” he asked, hoping his voice came off as playful and not just as strained as he felt.

It seemed to work. “Well, you didn’t say I was wrong,” Joker countered. “If not me, then who?”

Goro watched Joker’s face, and while his smile remained, Goro saw the cheerful expression leave his eyes for just a moment. He was acting cool and laid-back, but was that proof that Joker was actually _worried_? If so, then it would be cruel to drag this out; Goro didn’t have the heart. He transferred the present to one hand, which he extended out and offered to Joker.

“…see for yourself,” Goro said.

It caught Joker by surprise, so much so that it took him a moment to accept the present. For a moment he looked it over, and Goro’s eyes darted back and forth, too nervous to watch Joker’s expression, but too anxious to look anywhere else. Then Joker found the nametag and flipped it over, and even from where he was standing, Goro could still see where he had penned the name “Akira Kurusu”. Joker went stiff.

“Akechi,” Joker began to say, but before he could finish, Goro stepped forward, raising his hands to Joker’s mask. With Joker’s hands full holding the present box, he had no way to keep Goro from carefully lifting the item off of Joker’s face, at last unveiling Akira’s face.

Goro lowered his arms, holding loosely on to the mask. He thought for a moment his heart had stopped completely, or maybe _everything_ had stopped, given how Akira was standing so still. Instead of a mask, now his eyes were framed by unruly black curls, and Goro was struck by how deep grey they were, how much they stood out when they weren't hidden by a pearl-white mask.

Akira’s mouth opened in wordless surprise. He looked down at the present box and back to Goro again before he could manage to formulate a thought. “You… you knew,” Akira said.

“I learned,” Goro said. He handed the mask back to Joker, placing it on top of the present, unable to suppress a nervous laugh as he did. “You truly thought I wouldn’t like you like this, Kurusu-kun?” he asked.

A puff of air left Akira’s throat, but some of the life seemed to come back to him now that the shock had worn off. He took Joker’s mask and stored it away in one of his jacket pockets. “It’s just, compared to Joker, I’m…” he shrugged, rubbing his neck awkwardly. “Y’know. Boring.”

“There’s no world in which I’d call you boring, Kurusu,” Goro said. Akira went back to not responding, his cheeks having turned a lovely shade of pink, which was certainly endearing to Goro. He nodded towards the present box that remained unopened in Akira’s hands. “Come on now,” Goro said. “I spent a long time on this… it’d be a shame if you didn’t at least open it.”

A look of surprise crossed Akira’s face, like he had completely forgotten he was holding something in the first place. He didn’t need any more prompting, however, and he slipped a finger under the lid and carefully opened the box. His eyebrows shot up when he discovered its contents.

“Did you make these?” Akira asked, taking one of the chocolates and popping the entire thing into his mouth in one go.

“I did,” Goro replied, trying to decide what the hell he was supposed to do with his hands in a situation like this, something that wouldn’t make him look like a complete fool.

“It’s so good,” Akira said, still halfway through chewing the chocolate.

“Don’t sound so surprised…” Goro mumbled, finally decided to cross his arms lightly over his chest.

“Hey,” Akira said, having finished his chocolate now. He closed the box and stuffed it halfway into his empty jacket pocket, which allowed him to step close and take Goro’s face in both his hands, one cupping his cheek and the other coming to rest just under his chin. Then he was pressing a soft kiss against Goro’s lips, and the last thread of nervous energy in Goro’s body dissolved away. His eyes fluttered shut and he reached out to grasp lightly at Akira’s jacket, leaning in and returning the kiss, the first kiss of theirs that he felt no shame in completely enjoying.

When Akira broke away, he remained close enough that their noses were practically touching. “Thanks,” Akira said. “I love it.” Goro could barely believe he was here, Akira's physical presence the only thing keeping him grounded, and oh, he must have been blushing fiercely now, because Akira’s smile was turning into a playful smirk. “You’re cute,” Akira said sliding a hand up from Goro’s cheek to tangle in his hair. That was too much for Goro, who immediately pitched forward until his face was buried against Akira’s shoulder.

“Hey now,” Akira laughed gently, pushing aside some of Goro’s hair to kiss his exposed neck. “What’re you so shy for? _You_ confessed to me. Don’t you think I’m the one who should be acting all demure?”

This, at least, got Goro to laugh. He pulled himself upright again, and he let go of Akira’s jacket in favor of letting his hands slide down and around Akira’s waist. “I’m sorry we can’t all be as suave as you, _Joker_ ,” Goro said.

“That’s true,” Akira replied, pulling Goro forward into another kiss. He let this one linger, and Goro pressed his hand against the small of Akira's back, holding him close and relishing the feeling of Joker's lips sliding against his, the culmination of months of wanting, hoping for something just like this.

“Listen,” Akira said when they parted, a hint of breathlessness in his voice. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you earlier. I was just… I don’t know, I–“

Goro brought a hand to Akira’s cheek and let his thumb rub over his chin, silencing his excuses. “It’s fine,” Goro said. “I know you had your reasons."

“You're too good for me," Akira said, shaking his head. He kissed Goro one last time before he stepped back, Goro's arms falling back to his side. "Come to Leblanc with me?” Akira asked. He was already pulling the present box out of his pocket again. “I like to enjoy my sweets with coffee.”

The distance between them as they walked felt especially cold after standing so intimately close together, but the way Akira grabbed Goro’s hand and laced their fingers together as they walked chased all his anxieties away.

 

* * *

 

The night of sleep that Goro had that evening was one of the more fitful he’d had in a while. No doubt the day’s events had worn him out; by the time he returned home from an afternoon at Leblanc – and later, in Leblanc’s attic – with Akira, he’d been tired enough that he did little more than make dinner and prepare for bed.

Goro rarely dreamed, but tonight he did. He was taking a walk down a lonely street, running his hand along a brick retaining wall. Was it late? It must have been, as the moon was out, but the hazy pink color of the sky made him think twice. He kept walking, until something told him to stop. At first he thought it was just instinct, but no, something had really said “stop” to him. He looked around for the source of the voice, but only found a black and white cat sitting on top of the brick wall.

The cat looked down at Goro, tilting his head to the side. He opened his mouth and words came out.

“Hey, why’re you sleeping in? You’ve got work to do!”

Then the cat winked at him, and Goro woke up.

When Goro woke up, he felt something resting on his chest... not as heavy as a cat would be, but noticeable all the same. He sat up and something rolled off his chest and fell into his lap. Rubbing the sleep from his eyes, he picked the object up and studied it. Cherry-red and sporting an exceptionally long nose, he couldn't describe the item as anything other than a mask.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you, thank you everyone for all your kind words of support! <3 I can't say how much your comments have meant to me. I hope you find this final chapter a satisfying conclusion~ It was a delight to write and I hope it was equally enjoyable to read.


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